Harbor Freight

Curated by Kickpigeon Kids Collective

Works by Fernando Alvarez, Amber Bailey, Joshua Steven Bryant, Billie Jo Daharsh, Jamie DeAngelo, Sophia del Rio, Christine Drake-Thomas, Anna Galluzzi, Cynthia Jamileth Giron, Maria Haag, Claire Kennedy, Opal Strand, Jesus Trujillo, Lauren Hope Walker, and Chris Wicker

On view September 1-30, 2023

Dale Brock and Visiting Angels Gallery

Fernando Alvarez

Fernando Alvarez (b.1989) was raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Since 2006, he has lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In 2014, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. In 2022, Alvarez earned a Master of Fine Arts from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas

Chris Wicker

Chris Wicker is a New Media artist from Texarkana, TX. Chris received his BFA from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2018 and his MFA from Texas Christian University in 2021. Chris has had solo exhibitions at Blind Alley in Fort Worth, TX, Common Space in Bartlett, TX. and recently in the New Media Gallery at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in Lubbock, TX. His work has also been included in multiple group exhibitions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Creative Exchange Gallery in Ruston, LA, and in the recent exhibition titled Script IV hosted here https://www.envisionartshow.com/script-iv. Internationally, Chris has been a part of exhibitions in Hiroshima, the Khodynka Gallery in Moscow, Russia, and included in The One Minutes Foundation showing of The Fields of Algorithms in The Netherlands. Currently practicing in Texarkana, TX, Chris

maintains his role as the Visual Arts Director for the Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council.

Jesus Trujillo

Jesus Trujillo has had a solo exhibition at Gallery West in Arlington and has shown in group

exhibitions at The Mac Craighead Gallery and South Dallas Cultural Center in Dallas, Greater Denton Arts Council in Denton and among other places. Trujillo received his BFA from the University of Texas in Arlington and is now currently working as a Technician Assistant at UTA.

Sophia del Rio

Sophia del Rio was born in 1982, and raised in central Texas. For a few, very hungry years she worked as a choreographer in Austin, Texas. Her curiosity of the brain-body connection led her to study Neuroscience in graduate school, while she continued to practice dance and experiment in the visual arts. Anatomy and human experience inform her paintings and sculptures that explore how life changes after a loved one’s suicide. Themes of sexuality, mortality, loss of time, and mysticism place her work somewhere in the Art History context between Max Ernst and, contemporary American artist, Kiki Smith.

Opal Strand

Opal Strand is a self taught multi media artist originally from Fort Worth. Since 2023 she Focused on learning oils and continues to experiment with texture incorporating bold coloring. The hues are results of thought forms related to esoteric endeavors using her art as a medium in itself. Her subject matter ranges over time, while symbolism is heavily used in all paintings.

Anna Galluzzi

Anna Galluzzi is a studio artist and educator currently working out of the DFW metroplex who

specializes in painting, fibers and photography. Originally from the Texas Hill Country, Galluzzi moved to Dallas, TX in 2013 and received their BA from The University of Texas at Dallas in 2017. In May of 2021 they earned their MFA in painting and drawing from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX. While the media they use ranges, the underlying themes of self discovery and emotional coping are present throughout their varying bodies of work. They are heavily inspired by literature, popular culture, and all things kitsch.

Jamie DeAngelo

Weighing in at an enthralling 120 pounds, Jay DeAngelo is an enigmatic desk warrior from the suburbs with a gaze that pierces the hearts of their opponents and a pen that never stops doodling, even in Zoom meetings that they really should be paying attention to. Manufactured in a liberal arts factory, Jay is a force of bureaucratic destruction, the likes of which have never been seen in a standard downtown office building.

Claire Kennedy

Claire Kennedy is a Forth Worth-based artist from Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati in 2018 and received her Masters of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of North Texas in May 2022. Claire has shown in several galleries in Cincinnati and North Texas including Wave Pool, 500X Gallery, and Galleri Urbane. She is currently the emerging artist in residence at Arts Fort Worth, where she conducts her multimedia studio practice. Claire also works as an Adjunct Professor at various universities in North Texas, primarily teaching painting and foundations art and design courses. She looks forward to future possibilities within her art practice, as she believes in conducting a process that is ever changing.

Christine Drake-Thomas

Christine Drake-Thomas is a New Media artist located in the DFW area. She received her MFA from the University of North Texas in 2022 and her BA from the University of California San Diego in 2019.

Amber Bailey

Amber Bailey is a working artist living in Fort Worth, TX.

Maria Haag

Maria Haag is an artist living and working in Dallas, Texas. She grew up in North Dakota, living in rented farmhouses and exploring abandoned barns. After moving to Kansas, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas and her Master of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting from the University of North Texas. In 2014 she received the Charles and Margaret Pollack art purchase award from the Mulvane Museum in Topeka, Kansas, and has gone on to participate throughout 2017, 2018 and 2019 in Dallas in Prizzi, a community inspired mural project in the town of Prizzi, Sicily. Her work has been displayed regionally and nationally.

Lauren Hope Walker

Lauren Hope Walker is a current graduate student at Texas Christian University pursuing a Master’s of Fine Arts in Painting and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with a minor in Ceramics, from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2021.

Cynthia Jamileth Giron

Cynthia Jamileth Giron lives and works in Houston, Texas. She holds an MFA from the University of North Texas and holds and Bachelor of Arts from the University of St. Thomas. She is an artist exploring the concept of memory, and a created space, from her experiences as a first-generation American, exploring the duality of growing up with two cultures. As a child of immigrant parents from El Salvador, she was brought up in two cultures. Working mainly on painting and drawings, she also creates installations, objects, books, and games. She is an active member & Community Engagement Administrator for the artist-run OpenMFA, an artist collective in Houston, and currently works as a Designer.

Billie Jo Daharsh

I was born in California and as a child lived in Japan and Alaska. From my early years in Japan, I still have the beautiful silk flowered kimono that our housekeeper made for me and I cherish my memories of the incredible Japanese gardens and cherry blossoms in the spring. These experiences were followed by an amazing adventure of living in and exploring Alaska. My boldest memories were of the lush forests and wildlife. In spring, the forests and fields would burst alive with ferns growing taller than me in a matter of days. Forest floors and fields were bursting with flowers that I had to wallow in and bring home to my Mom. These memories continue to inform my work today.

Joshua Steven Bryant

Joshua Steven Bryant was born in Waco, Texas. They received degrees in Painting and Ceramics during their Bachelors at the University of North Texas in 2016. In Spring of 2022, Joshua graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of North Texas. Since graduating, they now work as an adjunct professor in Foundations, Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture. They have been exhibited in many group shows throughout Texas, including Queer Me Now: The Queer Body and Gaze at the MAC, the 2020 iteration of Rising Eyes of Texas at the Rockport Center for the Arts, and the 2020 30 Under 30 exhibition at the Greater Denton Arts Council. They have also shown in three solo exhibitions: If I Would Have Did, I Would Have Done, Keep it Between You and Me and the Neighbors, and It’s Sickening and Stupid and You All Care.