The Phatory is pleased to announce a two-person show entitled Know Meaning with works by Jeffery Hargrave and James Donaldson, which opens Saturday, October 15 and runs through November 12, 2011 with an opening reception Friday, October 14, from 7 – 9:00 p.m.

Jeffrey Hargrave

By transforming racist and homophobic iconography into comic parodies Jeffrey Hargrave chases viewers into corners where Matissian niggers collide, embrace and pose in bawdy scenarios that challenge you not to laugh. The problem is that it is hard to reconcile these warm and fuzzy feelings with the content of Hargrave’s symbology – especially, as there are so many viewpoints from which to respond to his use of the “n” images that they feel like moral traps. Eventually, all positions feel valid, and one realizes, sooner of later, that constructing social conundrums is the point of Hargrave’s work.

James Donaldson

James Donaldson, who Hargrave credits as his childhood mentor, is a self-taught artist who works in a variety styles that use the combination of subject and technique as the content of his stories which serve as visual gateways to his life experiences.

“My paintings are conceived and created in a free spirited manner in order to allow the viewer to bring with him or her their own experiences and to create an environment to peruse and interpret the paintings in whatever manner befitting, therefore vicariously causing one to experience the freedom and pleasure which I had in creating the work”.

Gallery hours: Saturdays 1-8pm and by appointment