NYAB Event - Brad Woodfin "Unwound"

Brad Woodfin "Unwound"

Smart Clothes Gallery

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Sloan Fine Art presents, in the front gallery at 154 Smart Clothes, “Unwound,” new works by Brad Woodfin and in the project room, original artwork from the “Handbook for Hot Witches” by Dame Darcy.

In “Unwound,” Brad Woodfin explores the end of cycles, the moment in time when one realizes that not all things are circular, and in fact many simply break and fall apart. Each of his animal subjects was chosen for a specific reason much the same way a portrait painter selects human subjects. A look in the eye or a tragic story can draw Woodfin to a creature. Some are bound together by cruel fates or impending dooms. Some stand in horror at the fate of others. Some are pollinators. Others have simply lost their will. But all of Woodfin’s magnificently rendered creatures delicately emerge from a deep black background, barely breaking the glossy surface shadow, existing in a no man’s land between darkness and light, mystery and revelation, power and vulnerability. “Unwound” is both a mournful celebration of the majesty of the animal world and a somber reminder of our human responsibility to care for and respect those who are, unfortunately, at our mercy.

Brad Woodfin was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1970. He headed west in 1991 and eventually studied printmaking and painting at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. His work has been exhibited in the US and Canada at Lesley Heller Gallery in New York, Thinkspace in Los Angeles, Weiss Gallery in Calgary and Jacana Gallery in Vancouver to name a few. “Unwound” is Woodfin’s second solo show with Sloan Fine Art. Brad Woodfin lives in and works in Montréal, Québec.

Combine the artistry and story of a graphic novel with a whimsical “how to” guide, add a dash of fanciful recipes and a fairy sprinkle of witch spell, wrap it all up with women’s herstory and you have Dame Darcy’s “Handbook for Hot Witches” released August 21, 2012 by Holt Publishers. In this quirky illustrated guide to magic, love and creativity, Dame Darcy addresses more than a girl’s desire to dream, but her power to create, harkening back to ancient times when women lead as herbalist healers, nurturers and disciplinarians of the community and flashing forward to the green movement of the 21st century. This handbook guides the grown-up Girl Scout, acknowledging her inherent power of creativity, intuitiveness and conduit to the spiritual realm.

[Image: Brad Woodfin "Meerkat" (2011) oil on panel, 20" x 16"]