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🎃🎃🎃Mark your calenders! Saturday, October 5th from 6-10pm, Sideshow Gallery will be kicking off the Halloween season with an exciting solo exhibition of Matthew Ryan Sharp!
The gallery will be transformed into an eerie autumn landscape that features Matthew’s iconic upcycled jack-o-lanterns made from antique gas tanks. The gallery’s walls will be adorned with his uniquely textured paintings of witches and other Halloween themes.
“Fellowship of October Fire is a physical manifestation of an energy that exists on the property our family lives on. Spirits that began tapping me on the shoulder and whispering in my ear in the Autumn of 2020. However, evidence suggests that it has been here for much longer.
In July of 2020 our family home was struck by lighting and caught fire. It took us nearly 22 months to rebuild. While we rebuilt our property, I spent many nights walking the grounds with my daughter, taking a break from various construction projects. It was in this time I began to notice things. I began to feel things. I heard whispers.
The shadows that trees made.
The wild mushrooms growing in the pine needles.
The black cat always watching from the tall grasses.
The remnants of corn.
The sound of twigs snapping by the creek.
The smell of turned soil.
The decay of damp wood.
The dim flicker of fireflies.
Upon completing our home and moving back in, I began to unpack boxes of what belongings were salvaged. I kept them in a pile in my studio within eyesight of me, not knowing what I would do with them. Over the next few years an idea would guide my hands.
This exhibition is what I consider, the first entry of a visual journal. Snapshots of folklore and energy that I have felt over the years, here in this small Ohio farming town. These stories become heightened as the leaves begin to fall. I have felt compelled to create these illustrations and relics to the best of my ability in order to help rid myself of some sadness that seems to be just over my shoulder. At all times...just within arm's length.
With the help of my daughter, Betsy Rose Sharp and a pile of salvaged watercolor paper and paints...The Fellowship of October Fire was born.
Things once plagued by fire and smoke, with a new breath of existence. However, this is just the scratching of the surface.
Nearly all of the work for this exhibition was created with materials that survived the fire in 2020.
Halloween Country Folklore with a Dark Spiritual Undertone.”
- Matthew Ryan Sharp
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
2219 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60647
