THE END: new works by Thommy Conroy at Mendelson Gallery

THE END

new works by Thommy Conroy

Opening Reception 
Thursday May 12th, 2011 
6:00 to 8:30 PM


Mendelson gallery is pleased to once again present new works from the always entertaining, enigmatic, energetic, eccentric, Thommy Conroy.

When Oscar Wilde said- "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." Thommy would have given him a knowing wink!

THE END

The romance and peril in the crashing waves, the exhilaration of flying high above the earth, and the ruggedness and nostalgia of the old American West: these are the themes that reverberate through paintings and prints depicting those who risk their lives for fame, glamor, and celebrity in The End.

The End celebrates these fame seekers. Arresting images rendered in vibrant Technicolor, these works capture the climactic moments of daredevil feats, celebrating the acts and leaving us to consider the performers. What drives people to death-defying acts? What do these heroes win for conquering their demons? Where do they come from, and where are they going next?

In freezing each act in its climactic moment and calling it The End, the works engage and question the sense of narrative: what happens after the wave has been conquered, the girl landed safely on the platform, the bull wrangled to the ground?

The End is about stories at their climax, without development, resolution, or context; the story is told in the single image, and the viewer's own experience is all that can shape the narrative. This is all that the fame-seeker, the daredevil, can hope for: to be noticed before being driven to too great a danger. The curtain falls, the audience leaves. The end.

Show runs through Saturday June 4th.

Mendelson Gallery 5874 Ellsworth Avenue 15232
 Gallery Hours Wed-Sat 12-5 pm or by appointment at 412-361-8664

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