Description
Jeffrey Moose Gallery is very pleased too announce the exhibition of work by legendary Seattle artist Sean Michael Hurley for December and January. Reception will be held on First Friday, December 6th from 6 to 8 PM. A FaceBook livestream tour of the show with the artist will take place from about 5:20-5:40. A second reception the First Friday in January, January 3rd, will also run from 6-8 PM.
Sean Michael Hurley is a bit of an art enigma. With a variety of styles and media, it’s hard to pin him down. His pedigree is impresive enough: a Magna Cum Laude BFA from Cornish College of the Arts, he had been cartooning and painting since an early age, even winning a $25 savings bond in a second grade competition. He began showing in Seattle galleries in the mid 90’s, a period of intense creativity in the city. His exhibition venues during this period included some of the hottest alternative and conventional names: COCA, Sit & Spin, The Weathered Wall, The OK Hotel, Kurt Lidtke Fine Art, Linda Cannon Gallery and Bumbershoot. He found his way into publications such as The New York Times, The Seattle Times and The Stranger.
Inspired by local artists Robert Perlman, Robert Hardgrave and cartoonist Jim Woodring, his work is both figurative and abstract. Fantastical worlds filled with perky critters, human figures and luscious textures and patterns have been a mainstay as seen in past exhibitions and public commissions. Calling his work surreal would be an understatement. There is a powerful spiritual energy imbued through each of his art expeditions. His artistic universes are unique to his imagination alone, wrought from the whole cloth of his fertile subconscious.
Artists of this caliber have complex interior lives and Mr. Hurley is no exception. He was adopted and grew up with a loving, supportive family outside of Poulsbo, Washington. His life has had its challenges; periods of inner turmoil frequently produced extraordinary out-pourings of art and music. (His musical world is another topic altogether.) He has spent considerable time working with people in crisis in various settings and in the Seattle School district.
