Beeler Gallery to open two new exhibits, ‘Into the Uncanny Abyss’ and ‘Looking for Family,’ on Thursday

An early look at Carol Boram-Hays’ upcoming exhibit, titled “Into the Uncanny Abyss,” which will open at Beeler Gallery Thursday. Credit: Haig Aghjayan

Whether it’s bioluminescence or familial bonds, Beeler Gallery has something new for everyone to see.

The local art gallery will open two new exhibits Thursday, one titled “Into the Uncanny Abyss” by Carol Boram-Hays, an art history professor at the Columbus College of Art & Design, and the other called “Looking for Family” by professional artist Richard “Duarte” Brown, according to the Beeler Gallery website.

For Boram-Hays, selecting her exhibition concept — bioluminescence, or the light produced and emanated by living organisms like jellyfish — stemmed from an interest in recent scientific discoveries that additional creatures like mushrooms and flying squirrels have been added to the list of organisms that glow under ultraviolet lights, plus a lifelong passion for biology. In fact, Boram-Hayes earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Washington University in 1985.

One of the many deep-sea creatures to be featured in Carol Boram-Hays’ exhibit, made from reclaimed materials she found from various scrapyards. Credit: Haig Aghjayan

“It was during COVID[-19] that I came up with the idea of the glow in the dark,” Boram-Hays said. “I have been working on the concept of the Anthropocene for several years now — probably about eight years now — in creating little, small sculptures and environments that are kind of fusions of the idea of the organic and the abstract with reclaimed materials, mostly to sort of evoke this idea of these sort of hybrid creatures.”

“Into the Uncanny Abyss” will feature glow-in-the-dark, deep-sea creatures constructed out of reclaimed materials from junkyards, which Boram-Hays said she intentionally used in an attempt to symbolize the striking presence of litter in the ocean.

“I’ve been really fascinated with some of the new research into bioluminescence,” Boram-Hays said. “Microplastics have shown up in parts of our ocean in places where humans have never even been before.”

In total, Boram-Hays said there will be about 27 objects within her display, all of which explore bioluminescence via their glow-in-the-dark nature. The exhibit will also feature a video discussing climate change and plastic pollution, plus sound bytes reminiscent of deep-sea noises to capture the exhibit’s overarching theme.

Though entirely unrelated to sea creatures, Brown’s exhibit will open Thursday alongside “Into the Uncanny Abyss.” For Brown, family has always been an underlying theme in his artistic work, and “Looking for Family” is no different.

“I’ve always had this inner longing for family because my mom never told me who my father was,” Brown said. “So I’ve always kind of had that hunger for a relationship of a father.”

Alongside Brown’s personal work, the exhibition will feature 20 pieces from the Smoky Brown Collection — an archive of work from Columbus folk artist Smoky Brown that was entrusted to Richard Brown after the former artist’s death in 2005 — according to a March 2023 video by Dispatch Magazines.

An assortment of pieces from the Smoky Brown Collection, which will be featured in Richard “Duarte” Brown’s exhibit, titled “Looking for Family.” Credit: Haig Aghjayan

Additionally, Richard Brown said there will be art from members of youth arts developmental program TRANSIT ARTS and students at Berne Union High School, Benjamin Logan High School and Whitehall-Yearling High School. The exhibit’s collaborative nature has made each contributing artist feel a part of a close-knit community, Richard Brown said.

“We wanted to bring together all the families of artists,” Richard Brown said. “The kids that we work with have become like family.”

Much of the inspiration for Richard Brown’s exhibit came from Smoky Brown, who mentored Richard Brown before he died. The duo’s family-like relationship inspired Richard Brown’s creative process, he said. In particular, it taught him how to be resourceful with his art.

“He had a studio literally on top of his car that I worked in,” Richard Brown said. “Anything that was discarded, he would pick up and find something to do with it.”

Richard Brown said though he hopes viewers enjoy his work, he more so hopes they each feel the power and love of family.

“Whatever dream you have, whatever gift you have, is there for you. Share it with humanity,” Richard Brown said. “Art stops us from feeling like enemies but feeling like family.

Both exhibitions’ opening receptions will take place Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Beeler Gallery located in Downtown Columbus. More information about the exhibits can be found on Beeler Gallery’s website.