TOM ORR: GHOST STORIES Marty Walker Gallery Dallas Texas

October 16 – November 13, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 16, 6-8pm

Marty Walker Gallery presents new sculptural constructions by gallery artist Tom Orr. Using industrial materials such as wood, metal, mirrors, and greenhouse glazing, Orr experiments with visual trickery of pattern, line, texture, and form as influenced by Conceptualism and Op Art movements. With strict deliberation and simplicity in assembly, Orr's installations evoke transcendent qualities of shadow and light, often employing subtle moiré effect of shifting lines and reflections.  Like Bridget Riley paintings, the curious balance of structure and apparent movement seem to vibrate, contradicting inherent natural qualities and betraying expectations.   Wood frames float in mid-air and mirrors break the boundaries of walls, “revealing,” as ArtLies states, “a philosopher quietly at work.” Orr brings his unique sense of material and keen use of illusion to coordinate unexpected constructions bound to mystify the most calculating audiences.  His pieces individually explore concepts of visual perception, dimension, and material that at once flirt with imagination and defy physical reality.

Orr’s work has recently been featured at the Dallas Museum of Art in the exhibition Performance/Art, where he and his wife, artist Frances Bagley, reprised their collaboration on the set and costume design for Dallas Opera's production of Verdi's Nabucco, re-interpreted for this exhibition. Orr has also participated in the temporary site-specific installations: Modern Ruin, organized by Christina Rees and Thomas Feulmer and featured nationally on NPR’s Marketplace, and most recently, Sustenance, curated by Anne Lawrence and Stephen Lapithisophon.

Tom Orr has exhibited extensively in his career including current and recent exhibitions at Brookhaven College, Fort Worth Contemporary Arts Gallery, Texas Biennial, Austin, and the 21^st Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture in Japan, among others.  His work is included in numerous corporate collections and can also be seen in several public installations, including DFW Airport International Terminal ‘D’, El Paso Museum of Art, and theUtsukushi-Ga-Hara Open-Air Museum, Nagano, Japan.

Contact: Marty Walker

Marty Walker Gallery  2135 Farrington St. Dallas, TX 75207

tel 214-749-0066  fax 214-749-0067

www.martywalkergallery.com

hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11-5 and by appointment.