Animal activist art

It's been a while since I've posted, and I've had a lot going on with my art the last few months. This year I've mostly been working on commissioned animal paintings, which I will be posting on my website michellewatersart.com very soon. At the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to get my animal activist art shown in as many venues as possible. I'm happy that I've had some of my farmed animal liberation paintings shown in three different galleries, this year, two in different areas of Chicago, and the latest in Northern Idaho. The Idaho show makes me particularly happy because until recently, Idaho had an ag gag law (it was struck down by a Federal district court judge in August).

The first show was a national juried show at First Street Gallery in Chicago (posted about here). Then in July I had 4 animal activist paintings shown at the Chicago Urban Retreat Center. From September 18th - October 16th, 3 of my farmed animal saints paintings are in the Compassion for Animal Art Show at the Pend Oreille Art Council's gallery in Sandpoint, Idaho.

"Petroleum Paradox" group show in Fall River, MA

Hey there, my painting “American Nightmare” is in a group show, “Petroleum Paradox”, at Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, MA. This is a continuation of the same show that took place last year at Denise Bibro Fine Arts in NYC. To paraphrase juror Eleanor Heartney of Art in America, “… the thoughtful works that comprise this exhibit present questions, such as ‘How do we balance economic development, environmental protection, and geopolitical stability in an ever more precarious world? What are we willing to give up today to avoid catastrophe tomorrow? Where should we commit our resources? How should we define our social and economic priorities?’”

An online catalogue will be available on the Narrows Center website.

Here's my painting for the show, inspired by the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the destruction of indigenous peoples' land by oil companies and watching a hummer limo make a three-point turn...

"American Nightmare" - Michelle Waters - 20" x 30" acrylic on canvas

SustainAbility group show in Malibu, CA

Two blog posts in one week, what's the world coming to?! I'm very happy to have a painting included in an eco art exhibit at Art for All People in Malibu (my old stomping grounds). SustainAbility opens February 4th and runs through March 20th. Art for All People is at 19562 Pacific Coast Hwy, near Las Tunas Beach. They'll be showing one of my "Homeland Security" paintings, below:

"Homeland Security 1" - 11 x 14 - acrylic on canvas

And here's the flyer for the show: