Press Release

The Western New Mexico University Francis McCray Gallery will celebrate the opening of an art exhibit by graduating art major, Brent Flenniken on Friday, Nov. 19, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show will continue through Dec. 17. The gallery hours at the McCray Gallery are noon to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Flenniken’s work ranges from watercolors to acrylics to sculptures and reflects his long time association with the Gila River community of Cliff, which he sees as a carnival of color and pattern, ever changing, yet ever magical.

Flenniken spent his early years in the Southwest United States and was strongly influenced by its images of abundant light and vast space. He received a degree in art from Texas Tech University where well-known watercolor painter, Clarence Kincaid, Jr., became his teacher and lifetime mentor. He will receive his masters of art degree from WNMU in December 2004.

Flenniken most often paints highly creative and colorful landscapes, carousels, or carnival scenes, watercolor portraits, florals, and abstract compositions. His recent work has been strongly influenced by the several years he spent in Central Mexico and Southern New Mexico.

Art historian and critic, Hunter Ingalls, Ph.D., says “For all their implusiveness, Flenniken’s works are very deftly composed. The singing quality of his color doesn’t wear off. It holds and grows when you’ve got one of his works in your home hanging there as a reminder that life is for celebrating.”

Flenniken’s work has been exhibited widely in U.S. galleries and is included in private collections in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. He has served on the faculties at Amarillo College in Amarillo, Texas, and at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

For more information call gallery director, Paula Geisler, at 538-6517.

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