[DAC] Save The Date. April 20 5:30pm - 8pm. Opening Reception for 'Metamorphosis Chamber'. Drawing and sculpture by John Casey and Basil El Halwagy

[Basil El Halwagy]

Please join us at the FPAC Gallery for the opening of
Metamorphosis Chamber
drawing and sculpture by John Casey and Basil El Halwagy.

For immediate release:
Metamorphosis Chamber. April 20th - May 25th 2007
Opening Reception: Friday, April 20th 5:30-8pm
Artist Talk: Thursday, April 19th 12pm - 1pm.

What is metamorphosis? How does it affect the artist? And how does it affect
one's creativity? John Casey and Basil El Halwagy present work that poses
these questions. Metamorphosis Chamber is the result of two artists'
perspectives on metamorphosis and how art changes people.

Casey describes his work as "personal  human morphology." Scraping the
emotional mud from the cave of his inner psyche, Casey creates "little
exorcisms" in the form of physically mutated sculpture and pen-and-ink
drawings. For him, making art is a form of therapy. El Halwagy also finds
the creative process therapeutic, although drawing for him is not so much a
deconstruction of one's psychology as it is a synthesis of psychology and
other studies, in search for "a clearer picture," as the artist puts it.

John Casey

      John Casey is obsessed with fictitious human morphology, which he
explores in his ink drawings and small sculptures. At first glance, his
works seem to portray a menagerie of deformed creatures. A collective
analysis reveals this array of oddball creations to be a series of
psychological studies ― self-portraits of the artist's inner psyche in all
of its multifaceted incarnations. Some sad, some horrific, and some
whimsical, these characters evoke responses from laughter and sympathy to
disgust and discomfort. While one might call Casey's work the exorcising of
inner demons, his creations inspire more  empathy than they do loathing. By
depicting the grotesque as pitiable, Casey illuminates the darkest corners
of the mind, seeking redemption for all of us.

Basil El Halwagy

      El Halwagy uses automatic drawing to embody a creative dialogue
between himself, his work and the world around him. El Halwagy's works on
paper explore stages in the creative process through which the individual
artist passes. Fascinated by change and how individual actions affect entire
communities, El Halwagy also uses art to place the artist's metamorphosis
within context of her/his changing environment. By examining how 'artist'
and context are shaped by our sciences and spirituality, El Halwagy's
drawings narrate an exploration of creativity that allegorizes human
history.


*Commodore.* 2007. John Casey. Pen and ink on etching paper. 12″ x 9″.
[image: commadore.jpg]

*Robot's Desire*. 2004. Pastel on paper. 8' x 4' Basil El Halwagy

<http://picasaweb.google.com/basil.elhalwagy/BasilSArtwork/photo#5024157578052480098>
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