OCEAN CITY — Two young artists with unique personal visions popular with art collectors — Evan Fitzgerald and Damon Pla — are featured during October in the Thaler Gallery at the Ocean City Center for the Arts. In addition, The Galleria on the balcony will feature a group show of abstract-themed art.
The public is invited to the free opening reception at the Arts Center on First Friday, Oct. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. to meet the artists and enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres. The shows will run through Oct. 29.
Evan Fitzgerald, who teaches at Salisbury University and holds a double degree in painting and drawing, designs, renders and paints on wood. His work is a satiric commentary on what people wear and how they adorn their bodies.
“I’m kind of poking fun at ourselves,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m making fun of fashion specifically, but putting it in the lens of animals dressing up and how stupid they look. Then in turn, think about how we might look — all the stuff we put on ourselves.”
Damon Pla, an award-winning artist from Dagsboro, Del., attempts to converse with the viewer through his surreal paintings and provoke thought and meditation.
“I am fascinated by the idea that the viewer can be forced to acknowledge this relationship with a painting,” Pla said. “In my surreal works, I attempt to capture this by arranging non-relative objects to create new relationships … Dreams play a large part of where my ideas originate.”
Wildlife portrait artist Paul Treadway of Millsboro, Del. occupies Studio E in October. Working mostly in pencil, he realistically renders the Eastern Shore’s wildlife and shorelife, and has illustrated two children’s books. This summer, he ran a small Western art gallery at Frontier Town.
Maria Gayhart is October’s Spotlight Artist. A native of Brazil, current eastern Shore resident and former NASA contractor at the Goddard Space Flight Center, she paints inspired by the natural world of the Shore.
Artisans Bob and Dot Truitt are showcased through October. Bob Truitt hand makes ceramic tiles that he transforms into picture frames and trivets. Dot Truitt uses high-fire stoneware clay to make objects for the home including lamp shades, fan pulls, bottle stoppers and bells.
The Ocean City Center for the Arts at 502 94th Street is the home of the Art League of Ocean City, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the visual arts to the community through education, exhibits, scholarship, programs and community art projects.
Financial support comes primarily through membership dues from individuals and corporate sponsors. Funding for exhibits is also provided by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, the Worcester County Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, organizations dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.
For more information on the Ocean City Center for the Arts, call 410-524-9433 or visit www.artleagueofoceancity.org.