Marcus Oakley "Pictoral Aural"
gallery hanahou
This event has ended.
gallery hanahou presents the musically-inspired artwork of UK artist Marcus Oakley, whose cheery paintings capture the color, form, and sentiment of various songs from the 1970s and '80s. This syneshestically-pleasing collection of new original works will delight the eyes and beckon the ears to hear sounds from decades past.
Marcus Oakley is admired for his charmingly simple style that at once exudes both nostalgia and currency. His illustrations have been published worldwide, and he has exhibited in solo shows in London, Tokyo, New York, Milan, and Edinburgh.
"Pictoral Aural" is a showing of new works made by Marcus Oakley that comprise visual interpretations of music. The works - beguilingly simple and direct - are comprised of abstract and pictorial imagery derived from Marcus's particular worldview. The 1970s and '80s are clearly a huge influence on Marcus's work, in terms of fashion, design, music, pastimes, crafts, and architecture. Some of the musical style and hybrid forms alluded to in the works include: soft rock; synth rock; folk; folk rock; country; lo-fi; independent; electronica and experimental musics. While each piece is based on a song, there is no overarching system. Marcus notes, "some of the works might illustrate the lyrics or the title of the song, while other pieces are expressions of how the song makes me feel - and others might be somehow trying to analyze songs in term of color, form, and structure."
"Pictoral Aural" reminds us of how music can fuse the senses. It can prompt us to "see" sound; or "hear" color, form and structure in the movement of sound waves through the air - and it can take us out of the present and project us into the past or future. It is clear that part of music's power is that it can't be pinned down to just one meaning or effect. This chimes with Marcus's overall philosophy of positivity and appreciation of how we can find inspiration all around us. Commenting on the works, he notes that "the images are also simply about things I like drawing: animals, people, trees, buildings and sometimes abstract patterns."
Media
Schedule
from May 22, 2008 to June 25, 2008