Exhale 2022

Exhale, was on display at the Elizabeth de C Wilson Museum at the Southern Vermont Arts Center from May 7-June 12 2022. This exhibition was part two of a triptych, a format used in artworks to expand upon a narrative and show heterogenous viewpoints. I often think of the work of Hieronymus Bosch or Max Beckmann when referring to the triptych format. Bosch and Beckmann worked solo. I am fortunate to collaborate with 6 other artists to reflect on the act of exhaling, and especially during a Pandemic. I am joined by Sophia Ainslie (MA), Steven Subotnick (RI), Lauren Mantecón (NM), Daniel O’Neill (RI), Joseph Fortune (RI), and John DeVault (RI).  The first panel of the triptych was arranged at the Newport Art Museum (Newport, RI) in the winter of 2021; an exhibition titled, digital breath. 
Have we been holding our breath, waiting? Are we ready to release this quivering pocket of air? On average a human being takes about 23,000 breaths each day. Imagine if each of these acts of respiration were conscious ones, there might not be a need to record time. Imagine if 7.9 billion people all released their breath at the same time; what would that feel and sound like? Buddhists believe that breathing out makes you aware of your whole body, and the practice of mindfulness is profoundly connected to deep diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe out long and slow, stay there and drift in that space.
“To live in the gap between the moment that is expiring and the one that is arising”    Laurie Anderson
This exhibition presented work across a variety of media: audio, sculpture, paintings, drawings, video, animated sequences, and interactive media; a multi sensorial experience transporting the viewer to that moment of continuous arising.




Interplanetary connections, installation view. A collaborative installation featuring the work of Steven Subotnick, Joseph Fortune, and Brian C O'Malley. This stairwell installation at the museum features an audioscape composed by Joseph Fortune, that is playing from inside the sculpture that sits atop the pedestal. There are 2 monitors playing animations that were designed with this space and the concept in mind. Steven Subotnick's work is in the foreground and the monitor at the top of the staircase has work by Brian C O'Malley. The idea behind this installation was to connect the sound and visuals and take each step up to the top slowly, on the edge of levitating with the experience.

Interplanetary connections, video documentation. A collaborative installation featuring the work of Steven Subotnick, Joseph Fortune, and Brian C O'Malley

Gramophone à la Magritte, red cedar, hardware cloth, burlap, screws, wire, and encaustic paint with a nested speaker for audio, 34”x36”x32”

passage-stag-dream of Joseph Beuys, Video with original sound. All paintings and drawings executed by Brian C O'Malley. 1:46, 2022. 

entryway into the South side of the Museum. On view are 2 large unstretched canvases by Lauren Mantecón, Sophia Ainslie's projector, and one of my paintings called, a billion light years away

installation view of the south side of the Museum---from left to right: Sophia Ainslie works on paper, Brian C O'Malley Perseverance video station, and Lauren Mantecón

installation video of the South side of the Museum featuring work by Sophia Ainslie, Lauren Mantecón, Brian C O'Malley, and Joseph Fortune. Video courtesy of Joseph Fortune.

Perseverance video station by Brian C O'Malley

Perseverance-never again (we stand with you Mariupol’). Video with original sound. All paintings and drawings by Brian C O'Malley, 1:02, 2022.

Lauren Mantecón, artery of love (left) artery of sound (right) oil on unstretched canvas, both canvases 70"x140"

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