Peanut butter and jelly may taste different separately, but together they make a mean sandwich.
Gallery Imperato?s spring show, Flora + Fauna, is kind of like that.
The show combines Baltimore artist Melissa Dickenson?s whimsical paintings with the surreal photographs of Los Angeles-born Carlos Tarrats.
“It?s our first show of spring. They both have an organic feel,” said Cheri Landry, Gallery Imperato curator. “Tied together, it?s two different styles and mediums, so that helps them stand apart at the same time.”
Dickenson uses a combination of mediums to create texture in her paintings, which mainly consist of altered animal forms. “It?s all about surface for me, creating a surface of colors, marks, line, brush stroke and textures,” she said. “I use paint primarily, but also graphite and thread tosuture pieces of canvas together to create my surfaces.”
Dickenson says the sheer act of making art inspires her.
“Even on days I am unable to get to the studio, I am making painting in someway … collecting information and images on which to draw from,” Dickenson said.
The photos by Tarrats are frequently mistaken for digitally altered imagery.
“Visually, I try to construct my images in a metaphorical and abstract way so that the viewers? imagination is free to explore and derive their own thoughts and conclusions independent from my own,” Tarrats said. “I like to use flora because for the most part it has no singular inherent meaning.”
Tarrats constructs sets with a variety of props and materials. He then photographs the sets through a sheet of painted Plexiglas.
“People are really interested in the process of the photos and are blown away by the way they look,” Landry said. “They are so unique. A lot of people say they are surreal and beautiful at the same time.”
“Every time I pick up the camera, I?m thinking about life, death, hope and conflict,” Tarrats said. “Whether one is better than the other depends on one?s perception. It?s the uncertainty of the situation that gives the image tension and creates conflict.”
If you go
Flora + Fauna
» Venue: Gallery Imperato, 921 E. Fort Ave., Baltimore
» Times: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesdays to Saturdays through June 16
» Info: www.galleryimperato.com
