Mac Mechem - Premonitions and Indulgences

Featured Exhibition at Transmission Gallery Oakland:

Mac Mechem

Premonitions and Indulgences
June 9 - July 30
Opening Reception
Saturday, June 18th, 1-4 pm

Opening June 9th, Premonitions and Indulgences, paintings by Mac Mechem. Mechem brings his social realism style to the concerns of the day; social, environmental, political, and sometimes off the wall. See it In the Real at Transmission Gallery Oakland.

Mac Mechem, The Wrath of Mother Nature, 2021, oil on canvas

Sky Cam Scan with Strings Attached, oil on canvas, 24 x 34
While waiting patiently in a doctor’s office before an operation, Mechem studied graphic images of the intestinal system mounted on the wall, the perfect thing to calm one’s nerves.

Prelude to a Kiss, oil on canvas, 42 x 32
This is an Art Historical painting: One day Mechem, pondering a Putti painting with the little rascals arching their bows in mischief and mirth, realized he’d seen many such Cupid paintings but had never seen one with arrows striking home. He determined to correct the situation.

At the Mall, oil on canvas, 38 x 26
Fairly obvious commentary on the unchecked assault of consumerism on the kids.

Fat N Sassy, oil on canvas, 34 x 34
Though we are in the grips of a new era of international relations, along with mounting pressures to revise our standards of health and complacency, it may be that the world finds this a reasonably accurate reflection of Basic American Values, Mechem certainly does.

Premonition, oil on canvas, 36 x 28
This Beauty is looking off to the skies, apprehension clearly captured in her gaze. Perhaps we can relate to the description she gave Mac Mechem of the Premonitions she’s been having before stepping on board to take to the air.

The Killing Room Floor, oil on canvas, 36 x 28
Living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at about the age of 5, Mechem’s dad had a friend who was a butcher. A favorite day was stopping in at the Butcher Shop and being treated to a weenie on a bun and Mac loved it, looking forward to those juicy hotdogs with his dad. One day, Dad decided to take Mac along for a peek behind the scenes of the meat cutting business. Finding himself in a slaughterhouse was just about too much to bear, and we can see it here; the ooze, the rats, the hanging meat. Little Mac had nightmares for a long time after. Years later, he heard the Howlin’ Wolf blues classic “Killing Room Floor,” transporting him back to this pivotal experience. Not to be forgotten.

The Wrath of Mother Nature, oil on canvas, 38 x 31.5
Like so many Californians, and with a long history living in the Central Valley with its exceptional bounty, one of Mechems’ constant concerns is the human penchant for remaking the environment without much consideration of the consequences . While thinking about the colloquial phrase, “Beware the Wrath of Mother Nature,” and picturing in his mind’s eye the common depictions of Mother Nature as a beauty embraced by flowers and foliage, Mac realized, this is not how it should be at all. Instead he envisions his grandmother, an archetypal presence, stern and fiercely defending the natural world we ultimately rely on.

Dance Macabre, oil on canvas, 42 x 40
The Price of Gas: Another event that left an indelible mark on Mechem’s world view was watching a PBS Series examining the horrors of an episode largely buried in the background, the gassing of the Yemeni people by American supplied Egyptian and United Arab Republic forces. In endeavoring to maintain its relationships with the oil-rich Middle Eastern powers, Uncle Sam (that’s us Americans) provided a minimal “outraged” response at the time while deflecting responsibility, having provided training and support for the forces perpetrating the attacks.
“In 1967, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) charged in a report dated May 21 (made public in Washington July 27) that UAR planes had killed 318 persons May 10, 17 and 18 in poison-gas attacks on 5 pro-royalist villages in southern Yemen. Several hundred additional Yemenis were reported killed in other UAR poison-gas attacks during May, June and July.” *
* https://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/1109-1967-08-30-FoF-a-JZW.pdf

More about Mac Mechem

Mechem has spent the last several decades both teaching and honing his craft. His pursuit of the perfection of his surface and exquisitely wrought detail are fascinating to contemplate. Mechem finds himself now at the height of his productive and creative energy with a whole new panorama of human foibles and catastrophes at hand. The commentary can only continue ...