"Insert Title Here" - Paintings & Poetry by Tom Feagley

 

At the MATV Gallery
January 9 – February 15, 2008

Public Reception
Wednesday, January 30, 6:30 – 8:30pm

"Insert Title Here,"

the first solo exhibit for Malden artist Tom Feagley, features vistas from around the world as well as glimpses into a mind grappling with the issues of the day through art and poetry. Largely focusing on Feagley’s landscapes in oil, this latest MATV Gallery show, running from January 9 through February 15, also includes some of his character studies and political pieces. His poetry, which ranges from the political to the romantic, intermingles among the paintings.

Feagley grew up in New Hampshire, where he began drawing as a child and found himself winning school art contests. His interest in and pursuit of art continued through high school, and he began college as an art major. He ultimately switched to an art minor to major in Social Services, however, and he has worked in that field in Malden since 1970. Today he serves as the executive director for the Bread of Life based in Malden, a volunteer organization that offers free evening meals, an emergency food pantry, and free clothing to homeless and low-income residents from the north Boston area.

Surrounded by natural beauty as a child, Feagley today gravitates toward mountains and trees, painting these types of landscapes both near and far— on Plum Island, MA; near Portland, ME; and while traveling to such countries as Belize, Guatemala, and Cuba. New Mexico and Yosemite National Park were particularly inspirational settings, and he found himself in awe of the beauty and large scale of Yosemite’s vistas.

Although landscapes are his favorite, Feagley has occasionally branched off to do portraits, with some of his character studies focusing on people he’s met who have had difficult lives. Sometimes he revisits a subject to document changes both in the person and in his own way of expression and perception.

Feagley has exhibited his work as part of area art groups, most recently participating in the inaugral Window Arts Malden show in 2006 and again in 2007. He says that he finds that painting can be his best outlet emotionally, and because of its importance in his life, he “can’t imagine not having art in his life.” On a professional level, Feagley has integrated art with work, running a painting group while working for the organization Tri-City Mental Health in Malden, for example. On a more personal level, each year he paints a work with the tragic events of 9/11 as the subject, to explore how his thinking and emotions have evolved in relation to those events and their subsequent effects.

The retrospective, "Insert Title Here," will be on view from January 9 through February 15 and the public is invited to attend the artist’s reception on Wednesday, January 30, from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Exhibit hours are Monday–Thursday, 10am-9pm; Friday, 10am-6pm; and Saturday, 10am-2pm. Handicapped accessible, Malden Access Television is located at 145 Pleasant St. in Malden Square.

Interview and article by Leslie A. Weston 

Gallery Spotlight is the companion video program for the MATV Gallery. Click "Play" to view this 25-min. program which tells the story of this exhibit.