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“Towards the Crooked and the Dim” Opens at tiny ATH gallery

Influenced by his own vivid dreams and dark imagination, local artist James Greer’s meticulously rendered black-and-white ink illustrations depict eerie fantasy landscapes inhabited by unusual characters. As unsettling as they may be, seeing these characters pulled from the shadows of the subconscious and adored on a gallery wall tenderly celebrates the outcast, the freak or the misunderstood. 

Greer’s exhibition was originally scheduled for last October, and he had spent the prior year developing a body of work entitled “Black Pearl Cycle,” “a series of portraits of fantastical underdogs and eccentric quasi-humans living in a subterranean refuge of derelict machinery and forgotten dreams.” When the pandemic flipped the world upside down, however, Greer found himself disconnected from the series and needing to recalibrate creatively. The cancellation allowed time and space for new ideas to emerge that have now coalesced as “Towards the Crooked and the Dim,” a collection of drawings that, free from the expectations of a cohesive narrative, authentically manifested from behind the artist’s eyes. Like previous works, these images are narratively ambiguous, allowing viewers to dream up their own stories within these unusual vignettes. 

tiny ATH gallery will host an opening reception will be held Sunday, Oct. 3 from 2–5 p.m, and a virtual artist talk will be held on Instagram Live (@tinyathgallery) on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The gallery will be open to the public during Third Thursday, Oct. 21 from 6–9 p.m., and private viewing appointments are available through the end of the month by emailing tinyathgallery@gmail.com.

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