"The Moon of Tomorrow"

"2 + 2 = 5:  Collaborations" opens Friday (4/29/2011) at Thunder-Sky.  The centerpiece of the exhibit is a work that hasn't been exhibited in over two years, a collaboration Antonio Adams did with Brian Joiner back in 2008 titled "Those Who Want War Warring Against Those Who Don't." (on loan from Country Club Gallery).  This triptych is an incredible example of how collaboration can push two artists toward newer, fresher ideas and images.  The surface of the large three-panel painting has a luster and bustle to it:  superheroes and angels, the Twin Towers, minarets and missiles all combining into an elaborate dream/nightmare inspired by Picasso and updated by Adams and Joiner. 

Antonio also was given some of the art supplies Brian left behind after his death last year.  Circular slices of woods onto which Brian had glued an odd assortment of shapes were taken by Antonio and transformed into a 3-D cosmology.  The silver piece above Antonio titled "The Moon of Tomorrow," and that seems fitting.  From the sorrow of Brian's death, Antonio has been able to forge a new style inspired by Brian's legacy.  Collaboration indeed.