Walnut Gallery presents an installation by artist Dennis Sears entitled “Requiem”, opening December 9 with a reception beginning at 7 PM. Admission is free and open to the public though donations are welcome.
L. Dennis Sears earned his MFA from the University of Florida and has been teaching at Gadsden State Community College for 15 years. With recent solo exhibitions in Virginia and Kentucky, Dennis’ work returns to Gadsden at the Walnut Gallery with “Requiem”. The series of oil paintings represents an assembly of 13 jazz musicians gathered to pay tribute in a mass for the dead. “I want the viewer to be involved in mourning a loss, while others pay tribute to the deceased,” Sears explains. Each painting is individually lit and utilizes a combination of traditional and classical oil technique creating “islands of description” – all culminating in the suggestion of a ‘viewing’ or wake.