Gary Hallgren first came on the national radar in 1971 as part of a band of radical cartoonists, the Air Pirates, whose self-published comic books parodied the Walt Disney Company’s beloved characters. The entertainment giant slapped back with a lawsuit charging copyright infringement; Hallgren was eventually forbidden to use Disney characters in any unauthorized way.
But in a new exhibit at the Taber Art Gallery at Holyoke Community College, the Granby pop artist’s other work gets plenty of play. The show, which runs through Feb. 21, features Hallgren’s comics, paintings and sculpture; if he can’t parody Disney characters, “he considers all others to be fair game,” according to press notes.
Hallgren’s freelance illustrations and parodies have appeared in many publications, including Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, Premiere and National Lampoon.
An artist’s reception takes place Thursday, Feb. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m., with a talk by Hallgren beginning at 5:30 p.m.
“The Brick Church” Music Series at The First Church of Deerfield will present the Atlantic Brass Quintet on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 3:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary. The award-winning group, originally formed in 1985, has performed in 48 states and dozens of countries, according to the quintet’s website.
On tuba, French horn, trombone and two trumpets, Atlantic Brass Quintet offers a repertoire spanning five centuries of music and styles, from “Bach and Brahms to Mehldau and Monk to Brazil and the Balkans,” the website says.
A suggested donation at the door for the Feb. 10 performance, at 71 Old Main St., Deerfield, is $10-20; a post-concert reception takes place in the Caswell Library at Deerfield Academy. For further information, please contact Artistic Director Jean Pitman Turner at (413) 774-2657.
Easthampton’s Elusie Gallery opens a new show on Saturday, Feb. 9 featuring the complementary work of metal sculptor Trisha Moody-Bourbeau and painter/photographer Arthur Skolnick, the designer of the iconic poster for the Woodstock concert in August 1969 (“3 Days of Peace and Music”).
Elusie Gallery owner Jean Pierre Pasche says Moody-Bourbeau first caught his attention a few years ago, after he came across her life-size metal sculpture of a horse in a field in Deerfield. That horse, named Penny, eventually became part of the “Art in the Orchard” exhibit in Easthampton.
For the new exhibit, Moody-Bourdeau is displaying what she and Pasche call “line drawings in metal” — smaller, abstract metal sculptures that are are “subtle, sensual, evocative,” according to press notes. Those works will share space with Skolnick’s figure drawings in white chalk on black paper, which Pasche says serve as an excellent example of Skolnick’s ability to capture light with his work.
A reception for the artists takes place Saturday from 5-8 p.m. at the gallery, 43 Main St., Easthampton. The exhibit runs through March 2.
