FRANKLIN STREET ART SPACE

FRANKLIN STREET ART SPACE
A contemporary art gallery focusing on emerging and established practicing artists whose work demonstrates a willingness to experiment with form, medium, materials, concept and subject matter.

FSAS is a joint effort by Russell Persson and Tammy Ackerman. The gallery opened in October 2007.

Visit our Flickr to see photos of openings and events. Open late for Biddeford's ArtWalk every last Thursday of each month.

RENT OUR GALLERY: looking for a beautiful venue at reasonable rates for your next class/workshop/luncheon/rehearsal dinner? Rent our gallery...contact us for more information.

NEXT SHOW:
March 2008 : Michael Pomerleau
Opening reception : Saturday, March 8 from 5-8pm

Franklin Street Art Space is excited to present a show by painter/sculptor Michael Pomerleau. Pomerleau is based in Waltham, Mass., having recently returned to the east coast from Seattle, Wa.

Pomerleau attended Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, where he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Art Studies (Sculpture) and also a Bachelor of Arts in Art and Architectural History (Architecture). PDF of artist's Bio

Michael Pomerleau
Artist Statement
I find painting to be an immediate way of expressing my thoughts.
I paint because it allows me to visually articulate common occurrences
and centralize my thoughts on a subject. The act of painting allows me to
discuss memories, question their environments and reflect on the
relationship between the subject and myself.

Although visually complex, my work is a simple connection I make
with the world around me. I am interested in the things that allow me to
understand what makes up my environment and the place I hold within it. I
use direct and indirect interactions with people and objects for the basis
of my work while allowing the presence of these memories to form the
imagery. My relationship and interactions with my canvas simulates the
relationships and interactions within my environment; therefore
influencing my place within it.

The process of painting is a catalyst that bridges my emotions and
the canvas. Memories and thoughts are illustrated by gestured mark
making. My process of painting evolves from a compulsive need to
understand and hold onto things. Memories that take form become
exaggerated, diluted and even forgotten. The marks are made and then
built upon until a comfortable balance of deep layering and emptiness
occurs. A successful work not only illustrates a memory it enables me to
remember its context and fully understand its environment. As Claes
Oldenburg said best, “I am for an art that takes its form from the lines of
life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips,
and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.”
Painting to painting, my subject matter changes but the form it takes
on is visually similar. Colors, drips, writing, and layers are chaotically
interwoven through painted abstraction to create an environment that
illustrates my emotional connection to the subject. Writing occurs at
every stage of the painting process. The writing discusses what is on my
mind and then embeds itself into the layers of marked thoughts. It also
appeases my need to see exactly what I’m thinking at that very instant,
then stepping back, I leave it like any other mark. The writing is subjected
to the same treatment as the marks are, being salvaged, illegible,
partially covered up or entirely erased. All of the layering is made to
illustrate time. The physically large size of my paintings allows me to
comfortably concentrate an ever-changing subject matter within its
boundaries, while allowing extraneous marks that limn additional
pertinent thoughts to flow freely in and out of its constraints.

Michale Pomerleau's That'll Be For Me, acrylic on canvas, 75" x 75"

GALLERY SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER : Sara Crall | Observations Of
DECEMBER : Biggest Little Art Show

MUSIC SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER 8: CANCELLED. David Wax Museum with South China 8:30pm.

REVIEWS
PORTLAND PHOENIX: "When ordinary is extraordinary : Gil Corral’s questions and answers in Biddeford" by Ian Paige, September 25, 2008

PORTLAND PHOENIX: "An Informal Formalism," a review of Jared Radding's show by Ian Paige of the Portland Phoenix, 02/20/08.

REVISED REGULAR HOURS:
SATURDAY NOON - 6P AND BY APPOINTMENT

FOR MORE INFO CALL 207 229 3560 OR EMAIL.
41 FRANKLIN STREET • BIDDEFORD ME 04005 • MAP