This is not That

Roswell Artist-in-Residence Exhibition
January 20, 2018 - March 4, 2018
Roswell Museum and Art Center

Opening Reception: Friday, January 19, 5:30-7 pm with artist's lecture at 5:30 pm

During the creation of a painting there is an attempt to keep the decision making simple, clear and basic. Thoughts such as: what is this, what is this doing, why is this doing it, are negated. Interests become simplified. As I paint, I merely begin. Preceding with as little conscious thought as possible, I work reactively at first. Eventually, the space begins to assert more definition, and forms begin to emerge within an environment. 

I endeavor to make a clearly defined world within which rest tangible proto-beings that nonetheless hold no significant meaning. The process is similar to surrealism in its tactics, but the goal is very different. While the surrealist painter is trying to extract meaning from the interplay between the unconscious and conscious mind using similar tactics, I start with the assumption that meaning is a futile pursuit. My attempt is to form vistas of empty phenomena. This creates a tabula rasa for the viewer, as significance can only be supplied by what they bring to the scene before them.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Conor Fagan obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. He was one of twelve international artists selected to participate in the 31st annual International Symposium of Contemporary Art, in Baie-Saint-Paul, Quebec, and his work is in numerous public collections including the Waterton-Global corporate collection and the Museum of Modern Art in Baei-Saint-Paul.

To learn more about the artist, please visit www.conorfagan.com