(SOUTH ORANGE, NJ) -- The Walsh Gallery presents two new exhibits: “Tom McGlynn: Standards,” a new series of paintings comprised of permutations of shape, color and the interplay of these elements, and “Gas Stop: Culture,” black and white photographs by renowned photographer, David Freund. The exhibits will be on display from Monday, November 5th through Friday, December 14th.
Gas Stop: Culture - David Freund Photographs. Photographer Examines the Bygone Culture of the American Gas Station. Taken in forty-seven states between 1978 and 1981, Freund’s images examine the culture, architecture and landscapes of the American gas station. Different from today’s convenience store where one can buy gas without encountering another human, gas stations then offered attendant service, car repair, pay phones, maps, bathrooms and a range of other services and products. Gas Stop’s photographs will evoke nostalgia for many, but its larger project is to describe a nationwide network that sustains American automobile culture, which in its way, is also a twentieth century version of an American commons.
David Freund notes “This is the first time I have chosen just one of the many themes as an exhibition focus. Although culture can be visualized in many ways, this exhibition highlights men, women, girls and boys engaging with gas stations’ offerings, spaces and with each other, enlivening and propelling its American narrative.” The photographs in this exhibition are included in a larger body of work published in 2016 by Steidl Verlag as a four volume boxed set: West, Midwest, North and South, consisting of 720 pages with 574 photographs. Copies of Gas Stop will be available for purchase at the Walsh Gallery.
Tom McGlynn: Standards - Artist Exhibits new series of Minimalist Geometric Paintings. Seemingly abstract, the art indexes numerous sources, including graphic design, commercial signage and mass marketing campaigns. McGlynn’s denial of an overt subject matter requires the viewer to draw upon their own inclinations, predispositions and aptitudes to make meaning of the artist’s open-ended arrays. Though McGlynn’s paintings are permeated with certain intentions, he is careful to avoid specific signification, providing an entry point for viewers that imbues his paintings with various interpretations.
Notes Gallery Director, Jeanne Brasile “McGlynn’s work contains the residue of information that is familiar and culturally tangible, yet somehow slippery. His paintings give just enough information to provide access to viewers but leaves the specifics of interpretation unfixed.” Tom McGlynn is an artist, writer, and independent curator based in the NYC area. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum, The Museum of Modern Art and The Cooper- Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian. He has been a contributing writer to The Brooklyn Rail since 2012. Currently a visiting lecturer at Parsons The New School for Design, McGlynn has also taught as an Assistant Professor at Castleton State College, Vermont, and as a visiting lecturer at the Mason Gross School of Fine Arts at Rutgers University, New Jersey.
The opening reception for these exhibits will take place on Thursday, November 8 from 5:00pm-8:00pm in The Walsh Gallery.
The Walsh Gallery is located in the University Library at 400 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, New Jersey. The gallery is open 10:30am to 4:30pm, Monday—Friday. The Walsh Gallery is part of the College of Communication and the Arts’ Arts Council.
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY's beautiful main campus is located in suburban South Orange, New Jersey, and is only 14 miles from New York City — offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Hall’s nationally recognized School of Law is prominently located in downtown Newark. The University’s new Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses Seton Hall's College of Nursing and School of Health and Medical Sciences as well as the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.
PHOTOS: (TOP) Colorado, 1978 - photo courtesy of David Freund.
(Bottom) View of the artist's studio - courtesy of Tom McGlynn.
