Dallas art gallery owner Matthew Abramowitz, left, Dallas businessman Gene Street, center, and Salado artist Lonnie Edwards met at the Wine Seller wine bar in Salado on Wednesday to select canvases of art by chickens for an upcoming exhibit in Dallas in late October. (Harper Scott Clark/Telegram)

TDTNews.com

Salado chicken art to roost at Dallas gallery

by Harper Scott Clark

Dallas restaurateur Gene Street commissioned Edwards in June to produce seven canvases when he read an article about Edwards  and chicken art in the Temple Daily Telegram.

Gallery owner Matthew Abramowitz and Street met with Edwards on Wednesday at the Wine Seller wine bar in Salado to discuss the showing. The Wine Seller currently has an exhibit of local artists on display including an Edwards chicken composition.

Edwards applies water-based paints to canvas using a technique first developed by Jackson Pollock in the 1950s. The school of abstract expressionism later became known as action painting because the interaction between the artist and the medium created the feel of movement.

After doing his part, Edwards then set his hens loose on the canvas to hop and prance about in the pigment. The resulting constellation of dots, blips and hen scratches are a sort of pointillism from the neoimpressionist school, Edwards said.

Having come from Los Angeles, Abramowitz said he could appreciate the chicken art for its unique qualities. He said the fact that the chickens were able to get into their artwork with such enthusiasm was a pointillism well taken.

“This is very unusual art,” Abramowitz said. “It’s most interesting and it is definitely Texas art.”

“Abramowitz said it captured a certain Southwest flair. “In the Texas community there are so many great Texas artists who are not being recognized – not getting the support they should.”

Abramowitz said having an exhibit for Edwards would be a wonderful adventure.

“The theme of The 4th Wall Gallery is about artists who break the wall of conformity,” Abramowitz said. “So that certainly meets our criteria. Essentially it’s different from anything else that has ever been displayed at the gallery.”

Could it cause a national stir?

“Anything is possible,” Abramowitz said. “He is a talented artist.”

Abramowitz said he has seen Edwards’ works in metal and wants some of them entered in the October exhibit, too.

Edwards said the hens would be busy in September finishing a large number of canvases for the exhibit.

Abramowitz said he has not announced dates yet but that it will be the latter part of October.

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