Featured Artist of the 38th MCAC April 23-25, 2021 – Garland Farwell
It is our pleasure to announce that York, Alabama’s Garland Farwell has been selected as the Featured Artist of the 38th Magic City Art Connection contemporary art festival taking place April 23-25 at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark.
The Festival’s 2021 venue move to this storied, flaking, patina-rich, and vibrant backdrop will be a wonderful complement to Farwell’s work and creative vision. And this interesting juxtaposition is more serendipitous than by deliberate design. His art often walks that line of beautiful decay. The radial designs of his Hex pieces (below), in particular, feature marked and distressed surfaces while popping with great color, shape, and geometry.
Recycling and reuse are also a big element in his work as he reimagines and upcycles wood and other materials into beautiful and graphic pieces. He especially loves giving old things new life.
Additionally, he’s fascinated by quilt patterns. Quilting, as we all know, has a deep history in the south. In 2005, MCAC was honored to host Alabama’s own Gees Bend Quilters as a special art education feature for visiting classes at MCAC’s Imagination Festival. Farwell himself has worked with kids on many special projects in the arts over the years increasing arts and cultural experiences that we admire.
MCAC looks forward to showing off this artful synergy of Farwell’s artwork, the Festival, and Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark the last full weekend in April.
Read more about his evolution as an artist, his body of work, and the interesting journey that brought him from LA to the northeast, then south to York, Alabama. Click here to visit his Featured Artist page on our website.
STAY TUNED FOR THE 38th ANNUAL POSTER DESIGN!
We will be unveiling the 2021 poster design by Scott Miller of Miller Communications, Inc. Thursday!
About MCAC’s Featured Artist Program
This festival initiative serves to support and present artists of great artistic talent and integrity to MCAC collectors and patrons. The work of the featured artist is spotlighted on the Festival Poster, T-Shirt, and the larger marketing campaign reaching thousands across Greater Birmingham and the region. Over MCAC’s 38 year history, this distinction has been centered on a gifted group of exhibiting artists and award winners, MCAC Emerging Artist honorees, and artists garnering regional, national, and international attention who have been invited to Birmingham as festival jurors.
