Toys

Still Life Oil Paintings by John Corrao & Megan Marlatt

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 7 from 5-7pm

Exhibit Dates: August 7 – September 27, 2014

John Corrao’s inspiration for this series came from his collection of late 19th and early 20th century cast iron toys. “They usually sat in an orderly fashion next to the kitchen table, cars on one shelf trucks on another, etc. Each morning they greeted me complete with their hard earned nicks, dings, wear spots and rust--a testament to the generations of children that played with them. They touched me, put a smile on my face and connected me to the past and a time of less wired childhoods. Alas, when the kitchen was to be painted the collection was unceremoniously moved to the dining room table. There was no order, trucks with planes, tractors with dolls, pure chaos! Toys which here-to-fore had never met began to form friendships and alliances. They saw each other in a new light as I did. So inspired I began a series of “Toy” paintings. Which included no less than 54 wheels, 27 marbles, 24 Cheerios, 19 ½ M&M’s, 13 Crayons and 1 stinkbug, but who’s counting.

Megan Marlatt draws inspiration from the multitude of corky characters and funky forms produced today in plastic toys. “Most of the toys I choose to paint are products of packaged fast food meals for children found in thrift stores and yard sales. The paintings I create from these discarded playthings often fall into two polar oppositions: one being critical of our consumer society, the other being complicit to it. Colorful and glossy, I sometimes paint these small toys in densely packed piles that speak to me of mass consumerism, chaos and cultural vertigo. Other times, I isolate a special toy and focus on it endearingly while animating it in paint.”

cover art:

John Corrao, Big Brother, oil on panel

Megan Marlatt, detail from Animals 2, acrylic, oil & spray paint on linen