Dates: May 10th through June 10th
Type: Gallery Exhibit
Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday: 10 am – 9 pm, Saturday: 10 am– 5 pm
Opening Event: May 10th, 2nd Friday ArtWalk at The ArtsCenter from 6 to 8:30 pm
Onicas – a solo exhibition of works by Onicas Gaddis.
Gaddis is an African American visionary painter based out of Asheville, NC. His style, called Spiritual Expressionism, points to the depth and breadth of where his paintings originate. After discovering his talents during an artist’s visit to one of the many group homes he lived in as a child, he found his purpose.
In a world that was most often not a very kind nor promising place for a young, orphaned black male in the south, art saved his life. After years of drawing portraits, he began painting, and ethereal figures and faces began to appear in his works. “Who are they?” he asks, “My ancestors? The voiceless?” He writes, “I am an open vessel, listening and painting their stories. Painting is what my heart requires.”
Onicas, drawing from his personal experience in the foster care system, will donate 10% of the sales from his own show to the young artists who are currently exhibiting in the Foster-Art Exhibition in our youth gallery. This initiative aims to support and uplift the artistic endeavors of these talented youth in foster care, providing them with recognition and financial assistance for their creative contributions.
