Armstrong-Kahlo

DIANE KAHLO & STEVE ARMSTRONG and Friends:

CHIAROSCURO:A LIFE OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

December 7th 2024 -February 1, 2025

GALLERY HOP, Friday, January 17th, 5-8 pm

CITY GALLERY , Pam Miller Downtown Art Center, 141 East Main St., Lexington, KY 40507

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 am- 5 pm, Friday, 11 am- 8 pm, Saturday, 11am-5 pm.

Exhibit Statement

The last year has been a life of contrast; we have suffered the loss of our daughter and niece, but in that grief we have sought light, humor, and purpose in the way that artists often find healing: through art-making. Our artwork is a vessel for that grief, as well as a distraction from the reality of our new life. In Steve's work there is humor, often revealing the beauty and light even in the darkest of themes and events. Diane's work refers to the cycle of life, death, and rebirth in both the mandalas made from found and disposed objects, and in her paintings that refer to Memento Mori paintings. Included in the exhibition are four local artists who were a big part of our daughter, Anna's, life. They each created something that was a part of who Anna was.

Carey Neal Gough, Pat Gerhard, Sarah Spradlin, Michelle Newby Armstrong

Diane Kahlo

Anakis Treasure

NFS

Memento Mori: "Colibrí/Kολιμπρ?" (Spanish/Greek) Hummingbird

Oil on canvas

$1800

Mandala
Mixed Media

24 x24 inches

$3000

Mandala #4, 2024

Mixed Media

6'x6'

$9,000.00

Memento Mori: Acherontia atropos (Latin)

Oil on canvas (unframed)

$1500

" I'm fascinated by dichotomy, duality, contrast. Although the Death's-Head Moth is the subject of numerous superstitions of being evil, it is actually harmless except to a few crops and beehives. I was fascinated by its visual beauty and the obvious image of a skull on its body. I used this image to represent the skull that is traditionally found in Memento Mori paintings."

Steve Armstrong