TELL THEM STORIES

PRESS RELEASE

“Tell them stories. They need the truth, you must tell them true stories, and everything will be well, just tell them stories.”
- Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass

Stories are powerful. Through stories we connect with places, with objects, and with one another. Stories foster love and breed hate; they give us new experiences, and allow us to relive old ones; they exist in every act we are proud of, and in every act we regret. Stories have made us what we are.

It was through stories that art began. The primal narratives we painted on the walls of caves evolved into hieroglyphs and pictographs; the prism of time and culture shattered storytelling into African art, Indian art, the art of the Americas, the art of the Renaissance, and countless others – all part of what we today call Art. But our love for stories never left.

In the hands of a skilled artist, a story is more than a record – it is the very spirit of a place, of a time, and of the storyteller herself. In recent history, such storytellers worked under many different labels – illustrators, comic book artists, fine artists. They matured on their own, achieved their own heights, and, ultimately, grew apart. But, as families do, they are now rediscovering each other. This rediscovery is what drives our exhibition: it is our hope to play a role in reassembling the various storytelling disciplines, to reunite their strengths, and to remind the viewer of the oldest and most fundamental of pleasures art can offer. We invite you, the narrative artist, to be part of our show.

Curated by Tun Myaing and Marshall Jones, “Tell Them Stories” will gather the work of narrative painters and draftsmen from various genres and professions. The work ranges between the probing silence of John Jacobsmeyer, the alarming starkness of Tony Dimauro, the deadpan playfulness of Peter Drake, the subtle glamour of Dorian Vallejo, the unabashed and passionate narrative of Gus Storms, and many others. On Oct 10th we will come together at Art Foundry to celebrate storytelling, and to take part in reaffirming the power of narrative in Art.

The show will begin at 6pm, and will exhibit the works of ten artists. Of those ten, three will be comic book artists, three will be fine artists, and four will be illustrators. Prior to the show there will be a two-hour moderated panel discussion addressing the differences and similarities between fine art, illustration and comic book art.

Art Foundry is an emerging art gallery located on 23rd street on the east side of Manhattan. It is a project space for artists striving towards unity among visual thinkers, the empowerment of conversation, and the dominance of creativity over the market. Tun Myaing, the co-founder of the space, is an academically trained painter and curator dedicated to the many contemporary artists who share that goal.