Reception: Matthew McConville and Olivia Munroe: Beyond The Looking Glass

Matthew McConville and Olivia Munroe: Beyond The Looking Glass
On view: October 23–December 6
Reception: Saturday, November 8, 6:00–8:00 pm with 516 ARTS

This immersive exhibition invites viewers to encounter the extraordinary through imaginative, otherworldly imagery rooted in both nature and abstraction.

Matthew McConville’s new paintings continue his series Flowers for the Anthropocene of exquisitely detailed fantastical botanical arrangements. The artist draws from traditional flower painting, scientific illustration, science fiction, and elements of chance. McConville explores themes of biodiversity, genetic modification, and extinction by suggesting speculative futures shaped by both science and ecological collapse. At the core of McConville’s work is an interest in coevolution, emphasizing the reciprocal relationships between plants and pollinators.

McConville’s work has been exhibited nationally, including at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa, Minnesota Museum of American Art, and Florida Atlantic University and is included in numerous collections, such as 21c Museum Hotel Collection, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Weisman Museum of Art. McConville currently lives and works in Baldwin, MD.

Working with ink and dye on fabric, Olivia Munroe creates complex meditative compositions using layers of drawing, stamping, and tracing. Her intricate circular patterns evoke both microscopic biological structures and expansive celestial formations. Munroe explores repetition as a path to spirituality and is inspired by the circle as symbolic of universality and interconnectedness. Her work reflects an enduring interest in textile traditions, abstraction, and sacred geometry.

Over the past four decades, Munroe’s work has been exhibited internationally at Annely Juda Gallery, London; Hong Kong Arts Center; and Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York. Her work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Portland Museum of Art, and the New York Public Library, among others. The artist currently lives and works in Albuquerque.