an exercise in purging

I met Matt Connelly during a Sunday brunch at Golden West. When I asked him what he did for a living he said, "I'm an artist and I work in a lumberyard." A little while later he told me that he has a show up at Dionysus. "You can go there and just take a painting off the wall."

Apparently, all of the art in Matt's show is free for the taking. "It's an exercise in purging," he explained. "The show consists entirely of old work that has resided in dark corners for years. I am trying to give these paintings happy homes; I am also trying to get rid of them."

Purging is typically a sudden act, born from the compulsion to get rid of something, but Matt's gesture seems more like a call to awakening.

"The art was originally hung for sale, and after a few weeks I decided to just give it away. The response has been positive. When the walls get sparse, I put up a few more paintings."

Images courtesy of Matt Connelly.