New work by Melanie Eberhardt and Madli Kirchhoff opens April 17, 7-10PM at the Seen Gallery in Downtown Decatur!
Melanie Eberhardt
The Seen Gallery has represent Melanie Eberhardt for over 5 years. Her work is reflective of herself, the times we live in, and our environment. She says about this show “This exhibit is about work – how difficult it is to find a job when you don’t have one but desperately need one and how few people are actually happy at the jobs they DO have. I’ve experienced both points of view as many people have.
Several times I have had to stand in that long line at unemployment. It’s a wonderful fall back but it’s difficult to manage expenses on the payments you receive. I’m startled to speak with friends and learn how many people are not happy at work. The reasons vary, but I often think about how many people start every morning dreading going to work!
Stitching these themes into the general malaise of our current economic climate, I thought an exhibit would be a great forum to explore feelings of frustration, ridiculousness, compliance and hopelessness within the context of work. I think many people will be able to relate to the show’s pieces.
Madli Kirchhoff
Her newest drawings show a spiritual progression toward something beyond people’s mundane lives.
Some say the artwork of Madli Kirchhoff is hallucinogenic. Others call it a captivating, intriguing view of the human condition. The ideas for her figurative drawings and paintings come from her zest for life and her love of people.
At age 9, Madli Kirchhoff began studying art. The year was 1934 In Tallinn, Estonia. Since then she has lived successively in Germany, London, Saigon, Okinawa, back to Saigon, Bangkok, Philadelphia and finally to Decatur, GA where she lives today.
Throughout her life she has continued to draw and paint. In London she studied art at the London County Council School of Arts and then Saint Martin’s School of Art. Her experiences have included working in the costume department of the Covent Garden Opera House in London, writing fashion articles and drawing for the Bangkok World newspaper, a fashion designer for Design Thai, and the owner of a boutique for custom designed formal wear in Okinawa.
Kirchhoff’s works are part of three permanent collections in Estonia: The Estonian Art Museum and LinnaMuseum, both in Tallinn, and the Estonia Lihula Cultural Center in Lihula. She has also had over a dozen solo shows, including galleries in Saigon, Bangkok, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Haapsalu and Lihula, Estonia. Kirchhoff has also participated in nearly as many group shows throughout her artistic career, including six in the Philadelphia area, as well as New York, Atlantic City, and Stockholm
For more information, contact: 404.377.0733
www.theseengallery.com
Come to downtown Decatur this weekend–enjoy the beautiful weather and some wonderful art.