Beware the Basilisk (and a Bunch of Other Things Too)

Gallery 40 is featuring local artist KP Devlin and his incredible fantasy for the month of October.

Ever since a young boy, KP Devlin  has experienced vivid, outlandish dreams. Recurring themes and characters from these dreams have evolved into his own personal mythology. Landscapes and creatures he would visit and interact with on a nightly basis eventually found their way into his waking hours via the pencils and paper.

Supplementing the influence of his dreams (and likely influencing the dreams as well) were the books his mother gave him to read. Illustrated stories and poetry by Maurice Sendak, Richard Scarry, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry were favorites, and injected humor and whimsy into the stories and scenarios he would create. My father, a man of science, taught him about astronomy and paleontology. This instilled Kp Devlin with a deep sense of wonder about the history of our planet, as well as the cosmos beyond. As he got older, he discovered the artwork of Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel and Salvador Dali, the films of David Lynch and the stop-motion wizardry of Ray Harryhausen, which all were hugely influential as well. Today his dreams continue to inspire his artwork. And much like when he was a child, he will let the images spill out initially without engaging a heavy thought process. But as a painting develops, his main focus becomes finding the perfect balance of humor and horror and presenting the images as though they were stills from a movie. Or a dream.

Exhibition on display October 1-31, 2022

Artist Reception: October 15, 2022 5-7pm