This series of 12″ x 12″ acrylic on canvas paintings accompanies a series of narrative color drawings of the same name that was exhibited at Subterranean Gallery on Bancroft Way in Berkeley, CA. (See Urban Stories (the drawings) page to view that segment of the series). Three of ten paintings in the series are shown below. Click the right arrow (or swipe for mobile) to view as a slideshow. To read the curator introduction to the exhibition, see text following the images.
Here is the curator introduction to the exhibition of Urban Stories:
“Likely or unlikely stories. We are all writing the narrative of our lives. One step at a time. One-way streets, back alleys, sprawling boulevards, rocky trails take us to and through our destinies. Do we turn left? Do we turn right? Each intersection decides our next paragraph, beginning or ending of a chapter. Sometimes, detours are necessary. Choices are made that sketch us into the world; we add color, texture, layers and become someone. We become other than we had planned or imagined ourselves to be. Change course, reinvent. Engage in unexpected acts. Commune with an often times unanticipated cast of characters in the theater of life.
In the urban environment, one collects myriad sensory input, bumping into or intentionally interfacing with the intermittent and contrary forces of nature: hot and cold, creative and destructive, delightful and disturbing, substantive and hollow, resilience and frailty. Balancing the Shiva/Shakti principle, we navigate the dichotomy of the human experience. We carry on.
Who are we. What stories do we have to tell. Or not tell. Cry out, stay silent. Sing your truth. Clarity, shadow, honesty, pretense. Likely or unlikely, we create our urban stories. And hopefully, like the lotus, we all float lightly in beauty amidst the muddy waters, come what may.”
mary corbin 