Skyuka Fine Art’s next show, “Cooley-McNamara,” is a two-man show featuring the paintings of Gary Cooley and Michael McNamara. The opening reception will be on Saturday, April 28 from 5-8 p.m. The show will run through May 31. During the run of the show, the next Tryon Gallery Trot is scheduled for May 12 from 5-8 p.m.
Both Cooley and McNamara hail from Detroit, Mich., and both studied at the Center for Creative Studies (now College of Creative Studies). Both studied illustration and worked or are working as illustrators now. Cooley and McNamara will attend the opening reception and show new plein air landscapes which they will produce while visiting the Tryon area.
Cooley now resides in Atlanta, Ga. and has produced illustrations for books, magazines and Broadway posters. His work has appeared in numerous illustration publications. Although he primarily creates his illustrations digitally now, Gary enjoys painting traditionally with oils. His work includes landscapes, farm scenes and a portrait series of jazz and blues musicians, including Muddy Waters, Nina Simone and Sam Cooke. Cooley also shows his humor and has painted a series of vintage toy space guns floating in mid air.