Last week to catch "Stay With Me" at 31GRAND

Old Room, 2008, oil on canvas,, 10 x 10"

Maureen Cavanaugh
Stay With Me
November 13 – December 14, 2008
Opening reception: Friday Nov. 14, 6-9pm
31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St., NY, NY 10002

Maureen Cavanaugh

Ladies, 2008, oil on canvas, 40 x 50”

Maureen Cavanaugh
Stay With Me
November 13 – December 14, 2008
Opening reception: Friday Nov. 14, 6-9pm
31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St., NY, NY 10002

Tonight's going to be a big night!

Maureen Cavanaugh
Stay With Me
November 13 – December 14, 2008
Opening reception: Friday Nov. 14, 6-9pm
31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St., NY, NY 10002
image: Profile, 2007, oil on canvas, 40 x 40”

Hope everyone can make it!

This Friday at 31GRAND!

Maureen Cavanaugh
Stay With Me
November 13 – December 14, 2008
Opening reception: Friday Nov. 14, 6-9pm
31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St., NY, NY 10002

Stay With Me, an exhibition of new paintings and ceramic sculptures by Maureen Cavanaugh, opens November 13th 2008. In her second solo exhibition with 31GRAND, Cavanaugh presents a myriad of subtle contradictions in her lovingly expressive paintings and sculptures to define vulnerability, resilience, and strength.

Cavanaugh playfully fuses public and private using her distinctive style of depicting figures and objects against flat patterned backgrounds to join the interior self, family and friends alongside public icons such as Hillary Clinton and Britney Spears. The figures are posed in comfortable settings (i.e. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin a family gathering spot), exuding a luminous and vibrant perspective on intimacy. This idealized reality results in a prevailing harmony that feels at once familiar and elusive.

For the first time, the artist has included small ceramic sculptures. These intricate figures animate the subjects that populate the paintings. With the older woman playing cards and the youthful girl driving a convertible, humor is present. Cavanaugh uses this sculptural element to contradict the overt flatness of two-dimensional painting. Real flowers in a ceramic vase are juxtaposed with the still life paintings.

Paintings are assembled to create a tapestry of woven stories and ideas. What the artist calls her “compulsory paintings” are small studies that allow her to investigate subject matter on an intuitive level. Assembled together in a large-scale collage, the images include brightly colored still lifes of flowers, a twirling dancer, reclining girls, a dying plant. Like small, tightly cropped snapshots, they display a delicate fragility with the tender treatment of the subject matter.

Maureen Cavanaugh was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She received her BFA from College of Santa Fe in 1999. Cavanaugh had a recent solo exhibition at Jackson Artworks, Omaha, Nebraska entitled, “The Past is Present.” Group exhibitions include “Art on the Edge” at the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, “Interested Painting” at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Gallery 400, “Contemporary Painting” at the Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine curated by Alex Katz. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the Joslyn Art Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego - MCASD La Jolla. The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Maureen Cavanaugh

Black Hat, 16 x 20”, 2007, oil on canvas

Last few days to catch ADMIRER at 31GRAND. If you haven't had a chance to see it in person, stop by. It's really a beautiful show.

July 10 - August 10, 2008 (curated by Maureen Cavanaugh)
artists: Claudine Anrather, Kristin Baker, Matteah Baim, Michael Cavanaugh, Holly Coulis, Torben Giehler, Ridley Howard, Alex Katz, Brad Kahlhamer, Lauren Luloff, Katie McCory, Robyn Olds, Erik Parker, Carolyn Salas, Kyle Simon
31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St, NY, NY 10002

Tonight!

Please join us at 31GRAND for the opening of Admirer. I'm betting a fun time will be had by all.

image: Ridley Howard, bourbon, 2008, charcoal on paper, 9 x 9"

July 10 - August 10 - Admirer (curated by Maureen Cavanaugh)
artists: Claudine Anrather, Kristin Baker, Matteah Baim, Michael Cavanaugh, Holly Coulis, Torben Giehler, Ridley Howard, Alex Katz, Brad Kahlhamer, Lauren Luloff, Katie McCory, Robyn Olds, Erik Parker, Carolyn Salas, Kyle Simon
Opening: Thursday July 10th, 7-9pm
31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St., NY NY 10002

Holly Coulis
Boy and Eagle, 2008
Oil on Linen, 24x24"

on view at 31GRAND in "Admirer" curated by Maureen Cavanaugh
July 10 - August 10

Big show coming up!

This summer Maureen Cavanaugh's curated our group show, and what a group she has gathered! Hope all can make the opening. It's truly beautiful.

Artists: Claudine Anrather, Kristin Baker, Matteah Baim, Michael Cavanaugh, Holly Coulis, Torben Giehler, Ridley Howard, Alex Katz, Brad Kahlhamer, Lauren Luloff, Katie McCory, Robyn Olds, Erik Parker, Carolyn Salas, Kyle Simon

July 10 - August 10, 2008
opening reception: Thursday July 10th, 7-9pm
at 31GRAND, 143 Ludlow St., New York, NY 10002

Maureen Cavanaugh

The Past is Present
May 16 - June 8, 2008
Jackson Artworks
1108 Jackson Street
Omaha, NE 68102

Maureen will be there for the artist's reception: Thursday, May 29th at 8:00 p.m

image: Machaela and Nick, 2006, 40x50, acrylic on canvas

Maureen Cavanaugh

Two Girls Hugging, 2007, oil on canvas, 18 x 12”

A big thanks to all that came out to the opening last night!

Maureen Cavanaugh

Machaela and Nick , 2006, 40 x 50, acrylic on canvas