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Pop-Up Exhibition John Flatz, Sarika Goulatia & Patricia Kelly
John Flatz fell in love with photography upon taking his first class in the medium at the Community College of Allegheny County. After receiving his BFA in Photography from Ohio University he began to trust his personal vision, exploring the contrasts between abandoned spaces and traditional architecture.
Flatz’s constant search for subjects to photograph leads him to many interesting places. Most of his work is a personal documentary with the subject serving as a starting point for creating evocative images that reveal deeper associations. While the visual qualities of a subject are initially enticing, it is the implicit meanings that add significance on both personal and objective levels.
His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries including the Erie Art Museum, Fein Gallery, and Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO. In addition to Fine Art photography, Flatz also pursues work on commercial assignments and virtual tours.
Sculptor and installation artist Sarika Goulatia was born in Gorakhpur, India. In 2002, she moved to Pittsburgh, PA where she received her BFA from the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.
Goulatia’s artwork develops and evolves through community involvement. She utilizes discarded, donated, and found materials, like shoeboxes, magazines, and toys to create her sculptures and installations. Her works do not proclaim a particular position, rather they create opportunities for heightened perception to confront issues of morality, chaos, and consumerism, opening doors for introspection and dialogue with the viewer.
Goulatia’s Indian heritage gives her a unique perspective; she incorporates the use of bright color and smells reminiscent of her childhood in some of her installations, for example, she contrasts the earthiness and pungent smell of red chili powder and turmeric with a bright, rich pigment in one of her works.
The loss of her father to Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) and her own near death experience from an allergic reaction also influence Goulatia’s works. Juxtaposing the frailty of the body and the strength of the mind constantly echo in her artistic endeavors.
Goulatia has exhibited her works at the Mattress Factory Museum, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Westmoreland Museum of American Art, The Space Gallery, The Mine Factory, The Miller Gallery, and Zora Art Space, Brooklyn. She currently lives and works in Pittsburgh.
Patricia Kelly is an abstract painter working primarily in oil. She holds a B.S. and M.S. in Music Education from Duquesne University as well as a Dalcroze Eurhythmics, a specific music education system, certification from Carnegie Mellon University.
In addition to 40 years of teaching music and academic classes in the Pittsburgh Public School system, she has also taught children’s art classes at the North Hills Art Center and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
As a professional musician, Kelly finds inspiration for her paintings from composers of every genre, paying tribute to them in the titles of her paintings. The artist also finds inspiration in the weather. In 2014, she traveled to Iceland and that experience has been the impetus for many recent paintings that reflect ice, glaciers, clouds, and snow.
Kelly is a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society and has received juror’s awards at the Pittsburgh Society of Artists, The Westmoreland Art Nationals, and Butler County Art Society.
Opening: Friday, June 12, 2015 from 5-7 PM at Art on Tap. Admission is $7 and includes music by The Whiskey River Panhandlers, a scavenger hunt, light bites from the Wigle Sisters Kitchen, beer from All Saints Brewing Company, wine and non-alcoholic drink selections. This month’s Art on Tap is sponsored by Mountain View Dental.