Good Grief, a solo exhibition featuring new works by Tommy Coleman, exhibits works created in many mediums, all focusing on the precise moment when the artist-- frustrated, confused, and exasperated--is forced to abandon the fear of a failure and submit themselves wholly to their practice. “Good Grief”, a turn of phrase most associated with Charlie Brown’s animated experience with this precise moment of vexation, is playfully re-imagined by Coleman throughout this exhibition. The featured pieces are seeking to capture the constant battle between the artist’s persona and artist’s hand—a battle made even more acute by the tide of networking, social media, and instant (and often fleeting) fame and a battle that is equal parts reality and surreal. The grief of art making, a constant in the life of every maker, is turned good by viewing this loss of control into a new possibility to reconstruct that moment and create a way forward without a fear of failure or ego. Coleman is enthralled by finding the affect in occurrences; seeking humor in grief, hope in failure, and illustrates this by re-imaging the moments, tools, and tableaus many makers experience during these instances by activating his own hands to create positive space from negative thinking.

www.tommy-coleman.com