Area 61 Gallery opened a new featured artist show by north Georgia pop-surrealism artist, Jeff Delude. His current body of work named "Collision 2020", was created during the 2020 global Coronavirus pandemic - COVID-19 - and many visual elements of the year's social, cultural and civil unrest climate can be found within his compositions.
"Mr. Delude's preferred medium is mixed media collage, as he finds it offers more spontaneity and room for innovation than his traditional art foundations," organizers said. "His style has been influenced by renowned artists - Picabia, Dali, Ernst and Rauschenberg. Beyond formal concerns, he is always mindful of current cultural, political and sociological circumstances."
According to Mr. Delude, “Relevant art must account for its time and place, springing from the past and arcing toward the future. My task is to comment on the stormy sea of crowded distractions we are all faced with on a daily basis, vying for our attention and begging us to leave our individual and spiritual selves at the door.”
He has earned three degrees in fine art and has been a full-time working artist for over 45 years in Houston, Tx, and Asheville, NC. He now creates from his cabin studio in the north Georgia mountains just outside of Chattanooga. In describing this body of work, Mr. Delude said, "It is a cross-pollination of surrealism, pop, and expressionism. Always loosely narrative, my goal is to provide saturated visual compositions infused with good storytelling. Better yet, it is to supply fertile ground for viewers to have a ‘run’ with their own interpretation of those stories.”
Original works from “Collision 2020” by Mr. Delude will be available for viewing and purchase through Nov. 1 at Area 61 Gallery, 721 Broad St. (left of the historic Tivoli Theatre). Gallery hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday noon-6 p.m. or by appointment by calling 423-648-9367.