(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Bacchantes and Bivalves, a solo exhibition of paintings and drawings by Thomas Micchelli, opens at John Davis Gallery on Saturday, February 7, 2015, with a reception for the artist at 6pm. The work will be on display through March 1. The show presents two bodies of work: Bacchantes, an ongoing series of paintings and drawings, and a set of two-part drawings called Bivalves.

Both represent a concern with the dualities that play out in the creative act — the self-conscious and the instinctual, the rational and the irrational. The Bacchantes derive from The Bacchae by Euripides, as well as its adaptation by the Performance Group, Dionysus in 69, a groundbreaking work of immersive theater that was staged in New York in 1968-69 and documented in book form in 1970. The figures depicted in the series are not direct references to either narrative; rather, they are theatrical characters taken out of context and reimagined in visual terms.

Similarly, Bivalves came about after reading a selection of writings by Gaston Bachelard, Max Beckmann, Jean-Luc Nancy and others, which were suggested by Paul D’Agostino as a basis for a group exhibition in 2011 at his Bushwick project space, Centotto, where the drawings were first shown. Each consists of two sheets, vertically stacked, in which the images in the upper and lower parts intersect at distinct points along the seam, conflating two figures into one.

Micchelli is an artist, writer, filmmaker and co-editor of Hyperallergic Weekend.

Gallery hours are Thursday through Monday, 10-5pm. For further information about the gallery, the artists and upcoming exhibition, visit John Davis Gallery.

John Davis Gallery
362½ Warren St.
Hudson, New York 12534
518.828.5907