'Modern Surrealists' Exhibit to Open at Arts on the Green

From the City of Gaithersburg: Gaithersburg’s Arts on the Green presents “Modern Surrealists,” an exhibit featuring the works of Marco Cuba-Ricsi, John Duke and Thomas Germer, from May 5 through July 4, 2017. Discover other realms as the featured artists skillfully mix reality and the dream world in their works. The Arts Barn Gallery is located at 311 Kent Square Road, with viewing hours Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.and Saturday, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to meet the artists at a free Artists Reception on Thursday, May 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Marco Cuba-Ricsi is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is based on a mix of subjective surrealism bordering abstraction, with the continued use of symbolism in most paintings. He likes to work with subliminal messages through figures and forms that draw the viewer to delve into the inner world of the artist. Using a refined technique, Cuba-Ricsi achieves a harmonious combination of light and shadows that intermingle with the figures.

He is President and Founder of the Latino Art League of Greater Washington DC and belongs to various associations and local art leagues. He is also an activist and art advocate, self-taught photographer, writer, freelance graphic designer, and instructor. Cuba-Ricsi’s work has been published and exhibited nationally and internationally and may be found in both private and public collections. For more information visit www.cubaricsi.com.

John C. Duke, a Gaithersburg Police Officer, is an oil painter whose highly detailed surreal images focus on the themes of the world's delicate environment and this country's crumbling infrastructure. His dream-like images frequently possess a solitary feel that feature human or animal subjects placed in man-made environments of decay or deterioration. For many years, Duke has been fascinated by differing textures. He has made a point of photographing old brick buildings, cracked cement walls, and dilapidated stairwells as reference material - all of which become perfect backdrops for his unique and thought-provoking surrealistic paintings.

Thomas A. Germer has always been interested in photography and optics. As a career physicist, he specializes in studying how light interacts with materials and how one can learn about a material by the way it reflects or transmits light as a function of wavelength, direction or polarization. As a photographic artist, he likes to explore how lighting, color and perspective affect how we perceive objects. Germer views the world with a unique sense of humor and, using his experience in physics and optics, he tries to put what he sees in an interesting perspective. Viewing an object from a different vantage point presents a different perspective, and often makes the object appear as something other than what we normally think of it as. Mixing two dissimilar and contrasting subjects in one image is a means to express drama, humor and/or irony, and it is this aspect of photography Germer likes to explore. Learn more at www.tagermer.com.

Please note that artwork is for sale and all images are copyrighted by the artists. For more information, please contact Shellie Williams at 301-258-6394, e-mail shellie.williams@gaithersburgmd.gov, or visit the Arts Barn at www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

Photo courtesy of the City of Gaithersburg