Surrealist Art Exhibition Utilizes Dolls, Animation, To Explore Finding New Life Through Death

Online, April 16, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Gallery 114 is pleased to present a provocative new exhibition showcasing the work of contemporary Northwest artists, Diana Crites and Erin Robinson Grant. "Consumption," a surreal exploration of rebirth through death, utilizes dolls, animation, and more traditional mediums to convey the inescapable nature of destruction and the challenge of rebuilding. Consumption will be on display at Portland's Gallery 114 from June 7 through June 30, 2012, with opening festivities on Thursday, June 7.

Exhibiting artists Diana Crites and Erin Robinson Grant share an appreciation for many of life's darker inevitabilities. The themes of self-destruction, metamorphosis, and death figure largely throughout their independent work, so exhibiting together under a common theme was intuitive. And it proved inspirational. In Consumption, their art continually intersects -- even uniting in projected animations-- before reaching different, and sometimes startling, conclusions.

Employing many vehicles - including dolls, video installation, oil painting and illustration - the artists attempt to communicate the multi-faceted nature of consumption. Through conceptual narratives of memory, desire, and decay, a common thread is formed: that although consumption is inherently destructive, it is also an inevitable step towards progression and rebirth.

Regarding the theme of consumption, Erin Robinson Grant states, "It conveys decay, destruction, and a necessary use of a limited material. No other word so beautifully captures the constant struggle of humanity to survive in both physical and philosophical terms." Adds Diana Crites, "Consumption, for me, is about an unwitting trip to places you don't want to go; and, having gotten irrevocably lost, the struggle to get somewhere new. In the end, sometimes you have to waste away to find yourself."

Consumption runs from June 7 through June 30, 2012 at Gallery 114, in Portland's Pearl District. Please join them on Thursday, June 7, from 6-9 pm for the exhibition opening and artist reception. Gallery 114 participates in "First Thursday" festivities, previewing art exhibitions showing at downtown art galleries. In conjunction with Consumption, Gallery 114 will present, "A Theory of Morbid Attraction: An Artist Talk" by Erin Robinson Grant on Saturday, June 16, from 1-2 pm in the gallery. Gallery 114 is located at 1100 NW Glisan, Portland, Oregon 97209. Admission is free and open to the public.

Gallery 114 is the only established gallery in Portland that has persisted in allowing its artists absolute artistic freedom throughout its 20-year history. Founded in 1990 as an artist collective, Gallery 114 and its members have consistently produced a diversity of artwork.

Images available upon request.