Artists’ Talk: Gillian Garro and Jamie Treacy in Conversation

Artist talk today at 2pm at GearBox Gallery! Join us! I’ll be in conversation with artist Gillian Garro. We’ll be discussing our co-solo shows “Creatures of Duality” (me) and “Feathering” (Gillian). Light refreshments will be served. This event is free, open to the public, and family-friendly.

Gearbox Gallery presents Creatures of Duality, a solo exhibit of paintings by member artist Jamie Treacy. In this series on panels and canvas, Treacy approaches the theme of “duality” with contrasting styles and tension between opposing forces.

Treacy draws from his imagination and paints from visuals found in his real life. A lifelong swimmer and new diver, the water represents another completely inhabitable world to create in. The free and open sensations of being in the open water let our imaginations wander—for better or for worse—and Treacy explores this uneasiness often experienced by swimmers in the open ocean, acknowledging its presence and giving it personality.

On exploring new themes and staying curious, Treacy says, “I’m part of a rich lineage of queer artists that use their hands and minds to forge a space for strange dualities: kindness and treachery; opulence and desiccation; kinship and solitude.” He continues by saying, “Creatures of Duality has an elemental focus and asks the viewer about the dualities that exist within them.”

Treacy’s last show, Akin, was done in partnership with his great aunt, artist Joan Tanner. Throughout the paintings and sculptures on display, there are noticeable moments of character—from the imminent movement amidst the awkwardness of her sculptural interpretations to the bold, aquatic-otherworld tensions of his acrylics on canvas. A consistent through line of his storytelling is the complex and dense interwoven internal world at the many intersections of Treacy’s identity, also imminent in Creatures of Duality.

On exhibition from March 21 to April 20 at Gearbox Gallery in West Oakland, Creatures of Duality is Treacy’s first solo show at Gearbox from the Oakland-based artist.

About Gillian Garro’s “Feathering” exhibtion:
Gearbox Gallery presents Feathering, a special exhibition in the Inner Room by 2023 Juried Show winner Gillian Garro. In this installation Gillian focuses on safe places– how we find them for ourselves, how we hold each other and how we heal.

Gillian assembles dyed and felted wool, twine, fabric, and found materials to create sensual sculptures that speak to her emotional landscape. In the artist’s words: “I am attracted to impermanence, fragility, the way things fall apart and what remains.”

About Gillian Garro
Gillian grew up in a family of art lovers and was graced with a lifelong immersion in the visual, performing and literary arts.

She has worked as a jeweler; gallery director; graphic designer; publisher; community activist; and partner in a landscape design/install company. In 2010 she began making large scale installations with paper, twine, concrete, found objects and textiles. Gillian lives and works in Oakland, California.

About Gearbox Gallery
GearBox Gallery is an artist-run contemporary art gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of its members and a broad range of regional contemporary guest artists, fostering community and education through intellectual and cultural exchange focused on the visual arts. We are located at 770 West Grand Avenue in Oakland, California.