After more than a year since the gallery’s last public reception, MAINSITE Contemporary Art will mark the opening of The Left Hand of Liminality — featuring Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman — in the main gallery and Other Places by Danny Joe Rose III in the Library Gallery with an opening reception from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, May 14. This takes place as a part of the 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk, which is also returning as an in-person event for the first time since February 2020.
The exhibitions will run from Friday, May 14 through Friday, July 9 with receptions planned during 2nd Friday Art Walks on Friday, May 14; Friday, June 11 and Friday, July 9. The gallery will also be open for daily viewing hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday beginning on Wednesday, May 19.
An Invitation by Denise Duong
The Left Hand of Liminality features works by Oklahoma City artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman, inspired by and created amidst the chaos of the past year.
Denise Duong is a Vietnamese American artist and muralist from Oklahoma City, OK. Growing up with an immigrant family in a city that cultivated individual’s imaginations helped feed the beast of curiosity. This created an intrigue of what was beyond boundaries, state lines, oceans, skies, and emotions which played and continues to play an integral part of her inspiration and creativity. The narrative works on canvas are created with acrylic paint, paper, watercolor and ink. When she’s not in her Oklahoma City studio painting, you can find her somewhere in the world drawing, water coloring, or painting on walls indoor and out. The allegory in her works are narrated through the interwoven figures and characters. Each little scene working with another. It’s the story within the story.
Gabriel Friedman is an Oklahoma City-based sculptural and large scale 3D artist, photographer, builder, teacher and father. He received his education at the San Francisco, Chicago and Boston Arts Institutes. His works and mediums are site specific, ranging from the whimsical to the absurd. He has training and extensive experience in a variety of materials and mediums including carpentry and woodworking, naturally harvested materials, metal and welding, blacksmithing, general construction and contracting etc. His works reflect his intent to create a long lasting positive impact with a focus on his immediate community. Gabriel creates each piece unique in form and function.
Mirrorself by Danny Joe Rose III
Other Places (2021) is a group of paintings exploring imagined, alien-like landscapes. Painted over an eight-month period during the height of the pandemic, these pictures became a daily meditation on color, form, and place. These works draw inspiration from both the natural world and science fiction and within them you will see a variety of rock-like structures, UFOs, portals, and orbs. These themes appear throughout their practice and evolve with each series as they explore new ideas.
Danny Joe Rose III holds a B.F.A in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Dallas. Their work has been included in both national and international group exhibitions. Danny has had solo exhibitions at Jen Mauldin Gallery, Artspace at Untitled, The Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts, Galleri Urbane, and others. Danny has been an art educator at Oklahoma City University, Artspace Untitled, Chandra Kusuma International School, and Art Class Dallas. Additionally, Danny has been an Artist-in-Residence at Artspace at Untitled, The Guapamacátaro Center for Art and Ecology, The Moon Mansion Dallas, Oklahoma City University, and in 2020 participated in a digital residency with Oklahoma Contemporary.