Francine Seders Gallery’s newest exhibit brings together three of the local art scene’s most well-known artists and the work of their children, also working artists. Running from Friday through Aug. 14, at 6701 Greenwood Ave. N., the exhibit features the work of: Fred Birchman and his sons, Julian Birchman and Sam Birchman; Michael Dailey and his daughter, Susanne Kelly; and Michael Spafford and his son, Spike Mafford.
Fred Birchman draws, and occasionally paints and sculpts. Julian Birchman is an animation artist currently living in the Bay Area, who recently worked on animation projects for Nike and the band Evelyn and Evelyn. Sam Birchman is a painter in Seattle.
In tossing around ideas for this show, the three decided to make portraits of one another. The show will include Fred Birchman’s drawings of his sons, Julian Birchman’s animated version of voicemails he received from his father and brother, and Sam Birchman’s paintings with his father and brother as subjects.
Julian Birchman, “CU42,” still from work in progress, 2011
Susanne Kelly, daughter of the late Michael Dailey, is a painter and printmaker. She was her father’s studio assistant and framer for 10 years before his death in 2009. Kelly’s woodcut prints and oil paintings will be shown with several of her father’s acrylics on canvas.
Susanne Kelly, “My Mother Said That I Never Should 2,” 2010, oil on canvas, 49 ½” x 54 ½”
Michael and Spike Mafford’s first collaborative show was in 2002 at Francine Seders Gallery. Titled “Shared Labors,” it was a collection of oils painted on photographs and woodcuts printed on photographs, and was based on the Labors of Hercules myth. In the new exhibition, they continue that Hercules theme with woodcuts printed on photographs, where each labor is presented as a triptych.
Michael Spafford and Spike Mafford, “Lernaean Hydra, 2nd Labor of Hercules,” 2011, 11×30”, photo: Spike Mafford.
The opening reception is from 2-4 p.m. Sunday. Francine Seders Gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
