Dazzling Places & Wild Creatures: Sybil Roe Thompson & Brent Brown

Event Description

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, July 14, 2017, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Dazzling Places & Wild Creatures invites viewers to explore an imaginative world of cardboard creatures made by Brent Brown and pattern-filled landscapes by Sybil Roe Thompson. Both self-taught artists live with developmental disabilities and use art as an important means to express themselves. This exhibition, made in partnership with the Outsider Folk Art Gallery, also addresses a larger conversation about the validity of untrained artists and how their art should be viewed as equally profound within the larger art community.

Brent Brown uses cardboard and acrylic paints to create unique sculptural puppets inspired by mythical creatures and pop culture. His love for making art began during his time at the O’Reily Children’s Hospital in Indiana, and he was later encouraged by his art teacher in high school to continue his practice and experiment with other mediums. Today, Brown’s work has been featured in various galleries, including at the Very Special Art Gallery in Washington, DC, and at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, Pennsylvania. Recently, Brown has also been featured in Raw Vision magazine, a publication that focuses on outsider artists.

Sybil Roe Thompson paints meticulously detailed patterns as a means of self-administered therapy to convey complex ideas and feelings she can’t express through words. She has a phenomenal memory that she uses to draw elaborate interior and exterior scenes. Her mesmerizing works tap into the artist’s subconscious and offer a look into how she experiences the beauty of world around her.

Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens and the Outsider Folk Art Gallery are excited to celebrate the achievements of these two artists during a pay-what-you-wish opening reception on Friday, July 14, 2017, from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. Light fare will be served and a complimentary glass of wine will be provided by Barefoot Wine and Bubbly®.

Browse through the exhibition here.