Exhibition Dates: August 2 – September 20, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 2 from 6–9 pm, in conjunction with White Linen Night
Gallery Location: 432 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–5 pm
Contact Info: 504.522.1999; www.arthurrogergallery.com

The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present Third Coast Suite, an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Francis X. Pavy. The exhibition will be on view at Arthur Roger Gallery, located at 432 Julia Street, from August 2 – September 20, 2014. The gallery will host an opening reception, with the artist in attendance, on Saturday, August 2 from 6-9 pm in conjunction with White Linen Night.

Secret Oyster Bed, 2014. Oil and block prints on canvas – Unique. 72 x 72 inches.

In Third Coast Suite, Francis Pavy continues to build upon the imagery, concepts and ideas pertaining to the Louisiana coastal wetlands and surrounding waters. In the same vein as southern storytelling, Pavy constructs bold, colorful layers of iconic images reflecting local folklore. Birds, plants, insects, fish, musical instruments are all pulsating elements that together create a larger, harmonious story. The motifs in Pavy’s work play on themes of mysticism, love, nature, humor and friendship.

Tying back to his first medium, photography, Pavy describes his process as taking snapshots with his mind and storing them until he can transcribe them to material form. His method of painting on “constructions” – wood, plastic and found objects – gives his paintings a tactile dimensionality.

D. Eric Bookhardt writes, “Pavy uses patterning and figurative distortions to achieve mind-bending effects. With his deeply luminous tonalities, the end result is like an unhinged formalism with a beautiful palette.”

This exhibition is made up of medium-scale unique oil block prints on paper and large-scale canvas works.

Francis Pavy graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1976. He originally worked as a sculptor, opening his Lafayette studio in 1981 and experimenting with glass, drawing and painting. Over time, painting became Pavy’s major focus. His work has been included in over 20 major exhibitions worldwide and his paintings are in the permanent collections at the Morris Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, as well as numerous private collections.