Happy Gallery Chicago presents:
The Chicago Painters Exhibition
featuring the work of these 3 local painters:

Tianna Bracey
Juan Arango Palacios
James E. WIlliams

The show runs from August 1,2020-August 29,2020. The opening reception is Saturday August 1 from 12-10pm. Please wear a mask and respect social distancing guidelines.

ARTIST BIOS:
TIANNA BRACEY
Tianna Bracey is an emerging visual artist exploring the female experience through portraiture. With a degree in Art History, she has a critical view of the canonical male gaze and values portraying women from the female perspective.

Her work explores the subtleties of the painterly and figurative form. It is intended as recognizable snapshots of the female experience, ranging from the pleasurable to the mundane. She employs body language, gesture, movement and expression as narrative tools. Through every piece she aims to celebrate the power and vulnerability of women through portraiture.

JUAN ARANGO PALACIOS
As queer body that was raised in a post-colonial context in Colombia, my identity was shaped in the shadows of North American normativity. My sense of self was further confounded by a series of migrations that my family experience in search of work and a more prosperous future. Moving through varying homophobic and misogynistic cultures in Louisiana and Texas, I have formed a disembodied identity that is not attached to any specific homeland and has always been challenged by the general norm.
My practice works towards addressing the lived experiences of ambulant queer identities that have been marginalized within a diasporic or migratory context. Through the fluid and boundless medium of paint, I have been able to represent memories,places, people, and archetypes that I associate with the safety, survival, and endurance of queer bodies in spaces that challenge their existence. Also, through the process of weaving I am producing narrative objects that aim at expressing the stories of individuals within a similar context. Placing emphasis on color and composition, my work aims at creating images glorifying and fantasizing the idea of safety in a queer experience.

JAMES E. WILLIAMS
Born in 1951 and raised in a few of Chicago’s Westside communities, James E. Williams has endured a roller coaster of hardship and triumphs, an entity that is always very present in his work. For forty-four years he has also been a well-respected professional in various capacities in the human development field. Working in all avenues of the field from basketball coaching, personal fitness training, youth outreach to counseling and motivational speaking. Williams is renowned for his use of a holistic, creative and disciplined approach to inducing a drive for success in others and himself.

In 1970, he started to develop a growing fascination for art history and expression. Armed with the perspective on life, that one can do anything they put their mind to, and the strong influence of a close friend, he decided to take a leap of faith and try his hand at abstract composition. With no formal training, Williams soon began creating brilliant works of art using oil pastels, oils and a vibrant array of rich hues.

Inspired by the master impressionist 19th and 20th century artists, Williams’ unique collection of abstract expressionism pieces has evolved into a soulful fusion reminiscent of the works of Monet, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Berthe Morisot, and Jackson Pollock. In his signature fashion, Williams uses various palette knives with varied brushstrokes and a loose form impasto technique on canvas with an exuberant body of color and textures. He feels very passionate that visually impaired individuals and children should also be allowed to enjoy and love art. Their enjoyment and sensory benefits are profoundly realized by their experience of freely touching paintings. He is often noted for the open-minded approach he takes to his work and his willingness to experiment with a variety of methods and mediums. All of which is intended to provoke the most powerful spiritual awakening that one’s imagination can grasp.

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Tags: Chicago, Chicago Painters Exhibition, Happy Gallery, James E. WIlliams, Juan Arango-Palacios, Logan Square, Tianna Bracey