Metro Gallery Nebraska will open three new art shows Aug. 2 through Sept. 4 at three Lincoln locations.
In August, Metro Gallery will move from its current 1316 N St. building into a new location at 1414 O St. At this new location, Metro Gallery will continue to provide art lovers with access to over 5,000 unique works of art, monthly exhibits (with free First Friday art events) featuring a variety of local and regional artists, educational opportunities like "An Evening With An Artist" Wednesdays from 5-7 p.
m., and art classes by the "One Rule Art School." The August shows will include: "The Cabin: Catharsis in the Pandemic" – This collection of distinctive 2020 works from mixed-media painter Raul Alejandro will be featured at Metro Gallery Nebraska's current location at 1316 N St.
The exhibition will open with a First Friday reception Aug. 2 from 3-7 p.m.
This collection is a small sample of the work he produced in Portland, Oregon during the pandemic, living in a cabin within the city's eastside urban reaches, collecting garbage he turned to canvas, donations from paint shops, and ultimately finding his muse within a tumultuous time and place. Some of the work is intimate, and almost naïve, but the paintings also appeal to emotion and attention with captivating images of subtle beauty mixed with the collective darkness – the duality the artist taps into and grapples with. Alejandro cites the works of Diego Rivera, Gustav Klimt, Ralph Steadman, graffiti and cave paintings as influences, but none more than his children's drawings, which in fact inspired him to become a painter.
Born in Mexico City, Alejandro has lived and worked in Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, Oaxaca and Puerto Rico, to name a few. The Northwest artist Tom Relth described Alejandro almost 10 years ago as "The epitome of the self-taught primitive artist." "The Lightning Path" – Artist Megan McCollister will be featured in the Metro Gallery's new 1414 O St.
location in August, opening with a First Friday reception Aug. 2 from 3-9 p.m.
McCollister says that while she is still developing her artistic voice, she knows that she makes art to help people embrace and remember the beauty of vulnerability and their personal power. She enjoys painting ethereal abstracts in the hope they offer the viewer a portal into their own memory, truth and consciousness. Most of the pieces in the exhibit were created this year or last, when the artist rediscovered her passion for painting and living life by the beat of her own drum.
"The Lightning Path" is titled in gratitude to this era of high energy, rapid growth and learning how to rise to the occasion of turning the poison of the world into medicine. "The End of An Era" – This focus exhibit of unique abstract work by Amy "SayCha" Sayers will be featured at the Burlington Antiques Mall, 201 N. Seventh St.
, #102, during usual business hours. Born in the Nebraska Sandhills, SayCha struggled to find her art niche in a world of landscapes. When she discovered she could "break the rules" and use texture, movement and color to show what she was feeling, she found her passion.
SayCha is inspired by music, nature, the beautiful people she meets and her travels, all of which can be seen in her vibrant paintings. Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
