McKAY OTTO: Ever Or Ever
April 15th - May 14th, 2016
Location
2832 E. MLK Jr. Blvd., Suite 111, Austin, TX 78702
Artist Reception
Friday April 22nd, 2016
6:00pm to 8:00pm
Artist in attendance. Facebook event link HERE.
CAMIBAart Gallery is pleased to present "Ever Or Ever", an exhibition of new Wave Field series paintings by veteran artist McKay Otto. A reductive abstract painter, McKay typically creates grid format paintings through which meditative opportunities result from the interplay between light and compositions constructed from carefully chosen materials. This newest body of artworks continues in this tradition while exploring and presenting a more organic aesthetic.
McKay's approach to orchestrating geometry, space and light reflects his longtime interest in freeing two-dimensionality in painting. For the artist, the creative process is essentially a meditative ritual while, for the viewer, each painting provides an opportunity to engage one-on-one with various forms of luminous energy, the result of which could leave one feeling calm, uplifted, or transcendent.
In recent years, McKay has developed a unique process for making a painting. Once completed, each painting yields two compositions, one to be viewed when lights are on or in daylight, and the other to be seen in darkness. In the daylight compositions, surfaces are animated by the soft interplay of light interacting with the textures created by the combined materials. At night or in darkness, an ethereal luminosity emerges.
McKay Otto received his B.B.A from the University of Texas, Austin in 1970. In addition to being mentored by Agnes Martin, he studied art at the Laguna Gloria Art School in Austin, the School of Perceptionism in Sedona, Arizona, and the Glassell School of Art at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.
McKay has been exhibiting since 1989 and has exhibited in New York, Basel (Switzerland), Florence (Italy), Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Palm Desert (California), Palm Springs (Florida), Santa Fe, Taos, New Orleans, Denver, Aspen, and Nashville. His installation "Silo of McKays" is permanently installed at the Hill Country Science Mill in Johnson City, Texas.