Stacy Fisher, Rob Matthews, Matthew Fisher, Patrick Brennan, and Chris Moss  

Southern Cross, December 2011

This December, Grizzly Grizzly proudly presents Southern Cross, an innovative group exhibition that functions as a singular installation.  Five works of art –each by a different artist– are positioned throughout the gallery to mimic the constellation from which the exhibition gets its name.  Adapting the visually loaded symbol of the cross through painting, drawing, and sculpture, artists in this exhibition include Patrick Brennan, Stacy Fisher, Rob Matthews, Chris Moss, and Matthew Fisher.

Southern Cross is inspired by the smallest of the eighty-eight modern constellations, ‘Crux.’ Historically used as a navigational device in the Southern Hemisphere, this distinctive arrangement of stars serves as the structure for the small group exhibition. Four wall-based works will be positioned opposite one another on the four walls of the gallery with a free-standing floor sculpture between them.  Conceptually, the five works that make up Southern Cross bring together ideas of the spiritual and physical through a variety of tactile means and materials. Artist Matthew Fisher describes his interest in the astronomical connection as: ‘a million points of light, arranged into order by the human mind since the start of time, to create deep narratives and rich fantastic stories.’ The exhibition invites both introspection and projection, much like the stars above.  
 
Philadelphia-based Rob Matthews will be exhibiting a dark, new drawing of an anonymous memorial, transforming a religious symbol into an archetype of memory. Matthew Fisher presents a crisply rendered painting that seems at first glance a casual collection of coastal grass blades, until the naturally formed shape of a cross is illuminated by the setting sun. Chris Moss will be showing ‘March Madness Sale’ a large painting of an empty wooden hull that navigates ideas of commerce and exploration.  New York City based, Patrick Brennan’s complex painting uses the cross as its foundation - its orientation changed, but still visible under layered abstraction. Stacy Fisher’s sculptural iteration consists of a handmade totem that, in addition to reflecting the overall theme, mimics vertebrae  - perhaps of a whale, or of the human form itself.