Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex McClurg.
Alex, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have been interested in art from a very young age and my parents have always been supportive. It has always given me an outlet for experimentation and meditation. It has helped me develop skills in problem solving and decision making.
Growing up around a family of makers, informed many of my interests. Having relatives that sewed, crocheted and quilted developed my interest in colors and patterns. My interest in geometry spawned from dad. He’s a contractor and working with him on jobs and watching him build showed me how geometric shapes work together and interact in a space.
I received my MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2013, and my BA in Studio Arts with a minor in Art History from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2010. My work has been shown in Puerto Rico, Alabama, South Carolina, California, and Tennessee. My work has been published and reviewed by, Fields Magazine, The Curating Contemporary, Mineral House Media and the Tennessean. I live and work in Birmingham, Alabama where I am a Museum Preparator at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My work is informed by my attraction to geometric illustrations from book covers created in the 1960’s and 1970’s, quilt patterns and the idea of displacement. I continually question my compositions as I strive for simplicity. The size of my work hints at the size of a book, which invites the viewer to become personal with them. The patterns are intuitive and are generated in the moment, similar to the traditional way of designing a quilt. Creating the patterns becomes a meditative process. Displacement plays a primary role in the way I think about these paintings. Areas of the paintings show shapes in positive and negative form, certain shapes and lines are off kilter and seem to be moved from their original location or expanding off the surface. These paintings are my attempt to show tradition combined with the moment of displacement.
How can artists connect with other artists?
I have found the best way to connect with other artist is to reach out to them through email or on social media. I have made great friends and connections from doing this. I found out that most artist are will to talk to correspond with you.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work in available on my website, www.alexmcclurg.com, on Instagram @alex.mcclurg and on artsy, https://www.artsy.net/artist/alex-mcclurg.
There are three more sources where people can find and purchase my work. https://www.1stdibs.com/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alexmcclurg.com
- Email: alexmcclurg1@gmail.com
- Instagram: @alex.mcclurg
Image Credit:
Alex McClurg
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