Monday, October 15, 2018

KIDZArt, Opening of A New Series by Stephen Shellenberger




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Olasumbomi Aka- Bashorun
Phone: 931 368 8834

DBO GALLERY presents for November’s First Bank First Saturday ArtCrawl

WHAT: First Bank First Saturday ArtCrawl Opening with special guest artist Stephen Shellenberger
WHEN: Nov. 3, 2018 6PM - 9PM during the Downtown Nashville Artwalk
WHERE : #69 & #73 (2nd FLOOR) THE NASHVILLE ARCADE ARCADE ALLEY NASHVILLE, TN  37219 
WHO:    STEPHEN SHELLENBERGER, OLASUBOMI AKA-BASHORUN, SAM WELCH & KIM BARRY 
DBO Gallery is very pleased to be unveiling the first limited prints of a new series of work by Stephen Shellenberger, “KIdzArt.” Art for families to collect for their children to have for a lifetime, beginning in the nursery. 

Stephen Shellenberger 
Artist Statement : I want to encourage families to invest in their children’s future by collecting art for them. For this reason I have created art that is meant for children, for their rooms and art that will be with them forever. I believe art is for all of us, regardless of age or social status, money. Art makes the heart sing and imagine a young newborn, with art on his or her walls, the joy that baby will experience. The art will be their art for their entire life!

Artist Bio:
Stephen Shellenberger is a multidisciplinary artist, painter, filmmaker, playwright and actor. He has exhibited his work in Canada, the United States and Europe. His work has been featured in magazines and can be found in both private and corporate collections around the globe. Shellenberger has several successful solo exhibitions to his credit and has been selected for prominent group shows such as the Collectionner L'art sponsored by the Association des Galeries d'art Contemporain. One of the reasons his work strikes such a cord with people: the artist recycles anything and everything and reclaims it with paint.
Shellenberger loves the notion that things with history bring much more to a work of art than something fresh from the art store; he celebrates their past, integrating those memories with his own vision. If art is the voice and language of the artist, then Shellenberger clearly has something interesting to say.

"The artists job is to be a witness to his time in history." 
-Robert Rauschenberg 
(He owned a small painting of Stephen's)

Stephen Shellen grew up in Victoria, British Columbia where he was his high school's star hockey player before heading north to work as a lumberjack. After catching the attention of a talent scout in Vancouver, he decided to try his hand at acting, spurred on in part by the memory of a less-than-appreciative audience during his first stage performance in junior high. Moving to Los Angeles, he studied with Peggy Feury and soon became a familiar face in feature films including Casual Sex? (1988) with Lea Thompson and Victoria Jackson, festival favourite The Stepfather (1987) with Terry O'Quinn and Shelley Hack, the star-studded miniseries Hollywood Wives (1985), with Anthony Hopkins, Candice Bergen and Robert Stack, and the TV movie and basis of the series Murder One(1995). Returning to Canada in the early 90s, Stephen had a lead role on the Nikita-esque USA Networks series Counterstrike (1990), with Simon MacCorkindale and Christopher Plummer, in which he played Luke Brenner, part of a team of three operatives who fought terrorism around the globe. Back in the U.S., Stephen starred in Stand Off (1994), a film about a hostage crisis for which he won critical raves. He also made an appearance as the cocky actor brother of Craig Sheffer's love interest in the Academy-Award-winning A River Runs Through It (1992); his scenes with Susan Trawley were referred to by Newsweek as the funniest sequence in the movie. His career continued to blend big-budget, box office winners like The Bodyguard (1992) with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, and small but critically acclaimed independent films like Rude (1995) which was named the Best Canadian Feature Film at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival, as well as receiving eight Genie nominations. Stephen can also be seen in guest appearances on popular TV shows like Law & Order (1990) and Due South (1994). In 1997, he was invited to Toronto to shoot what he thought would be a one-time appearance on _La Femme Nikita_, playing a dedicated police detective who stumbles into more than he bargained for in pursuit of a serial killer. However, he was a hit with the show's fans, and so LFN made the decision to bring him back in a recurring role for the series' fifth and final season. The episodes began airing in the U.S. in January 2001. Stephen has also been seen in the hit Nicolas Cage/Angelina Jolie film Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000).

Also in Suite 69’s front room Olasubomi Aka-Bashorun and his new series, “Pixelated Love.” A three paintings series capturing romance, brightly & boldly, in the digital age.  Original paintings and iron sculptures by Kim Barry in the center room, as well. 

 In the front room of our Suite #73,  Sam Welch displays his new tapestry series and portrait series. 
  
DBO Gallery in the brainchild of artist, Olasubomi Aka-Bashorun. Having opened a DBO Gallery in Clarkesville in May 2018, he teamed up with artist, Sam Welch, to find a Downtown location within the Arts District. Located inside The historic Nashville Arcade, the gallery is  surrounded by a great community of artist studios. Bashorun & Welch welcomed recent Nashville transplant, Kim Barry, into the fold as a represented artist.  

Olasubomi Aka-Bashorun is an artist born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma. He graduated with an art degree from Oklahoma Baptist University  in 2010 and now lives and works in the Middle Tennessee area. His work focuses on expressionistic portraitures and large scale public murals.  

Sam Welch, a native of Nashville, is a creative entrepreneur in bringing platforms, events, and spaces to artists. As an artist, himself, he leans towards the blend of street art through the eyes of a optimistic anarchist.

Kim Barry, a Pittsburgh-born artist, has travelled the country created experimental art studios  - Suite 106 in Florida, West Eleven in Los Angeles, and, most recently SixTHreeFouR in Pittsburgh, PA. Within each creative space, she designs interactive environments that include her paintings, sculptures, collaborative music, movement and installation. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including The Louvre's Contemporary Art Festival, Long Beach's 100 years of Women in Art Exhibit, The Oxford International Art Fair  and is held in private and corporate collections. 


HOURS : 2pm - 6pm Tues - Fri or by appt. 

FOR MORE INFO PLEASE CONTACT DBOGallery2018@gmail.com or call 913 368 8834

Sunday, October 7, 2018

The Fractured Sacred



So This was the photo op of the night... Here's a little backstory...... "The FracturedSacred" 72"X 36 acrylic on Canvas. The real feminist "fight " is preserving the beauty of the gift we are given, love and preserve the body we are provided, and protect innocence, Joy and peace of life. Once a child, girl or boy, exposed to seductive to brutal rape, abuse, and exploitation, come to think pain, hate and mutilation of self and others is "love" and thus fight for that, instead. That is the end of any true beauty. I wonder, is this the true root of the rape epidemic? Envy of another's perceived beauty, joy and or innocence and, by default, have pain replace love? To consume the other rather than support, befriend and protect the other? This is a fractured, fallen world. This is not the end, nor ideal. Sorry to burst an ego bubble or two, but In light of the world's fruit, Women are not goddesses, just as men are not gods. We create the body but not the souls of the future . Both men and women are complimentary vessels that have the power to breathe life or death into each other and every soul with a temporary use of the body. I'm so tired of seeing the conversation of death winning over life and too many accept it as the only language left in the world so they pass the hot potato of pain to the next person. This is not the highest nature of ourselves or a reflection of God. It just takes time and humility to accept the fruit of a destructive nature, change course and learn the language that preserves life. Look into another's eyes- you can see the difference it makes. This painting is for all the ladies ( and men ) I have had the honor of being a confidant in the struggles to stay gold no matter the punches in this often confusing and contradictory dimension. Furthermore, This painting is for all the women and men around the world who are used and abused as vessels for others to express rage, hate, lust, and brutality instead of love. Love each other until you come across a person wanting to express death to your body and soul. when there is no conversation left to discuss, Then defend to the death. There lies the true fight for the feminine -A honorable fight- inclusive to everyone. The rest is derivative.