Surface Stress – Structure Strain: The Psychology of Architecture in Baltimore and Nagasaki
Surface Stress. Structure Strain: Mysteries of Baltimore III. Oil on paper, 22 by 30 inches. Click image to view in slide show.
Surface Stress. Structure Strain. Nagasaki Cats Council. Oil on paper, 22 by 30 inches.
Surface Stress. Structure Strain. Dr. Ranpos’ Startling Menagerie. Oil on paper, 22 by 30 inches.
Surface Stress. Structure Strain. Baltimore Ruins VI Skyline. Oil on canvas, 24 by 30 inches.
Surface Stress. Structure Strain. Baltimore Ruins XI. Oil on canvas, 48 by 60 inches.
These paintings, which attempt to describe the complexity of structures, serve as psychological portraits of the people of Baltimore, Maryland, and Nagasaki, Japan. Boarded up doors and windows trap the dark secrets of these poor dwellings. Degraded humans and distraught ghosts wander through these dark places. Inferences to the human psyche are enmeshed in each gash, hole, and sloppy patch.
With work that ranges from elaborately detailed urban landscapes to fantastical narratives, Greg McLemore uses realism as a starting point for the exploration of the tragic, mysterious, and often comical aspects of life. McLemore earned his MFA at the University of Arizona and BFA at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Recent solo exhibitions include Lycoming College Art Gallery, PA, Howard Community College Gallery, MD, and Artspace, NC. Greg was a semifinalist for the prestigious Sondheim Prize and was awarded an Individual Artist Grant by the Maryland State Arts Council, both in 2016. An Adjunct Professor of Art at Towson University, he currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
