The MAC

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THE MAC // MAY 17 // 6-7PM

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The MAC | 3120 McKinney | Dallas | TX | 75204
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Billy Hassell, Freshwater Life (A World Remembered), oil on canvas, 36"x80", 2012

In celebration of Earth Day, The MAC is pleased to present three new exhibitions featuring
the works of Billy Hassell, Carol Selter and Daniel-Kayne. An opening reception with the
artists will be held Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at The MAC galleries,

In conjunction with these three exhibitions, The MAC is pleased to host an evening to
benefit Audubon Texas on April 18, 2012 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.

Amanda Hackney, Audubon Texas coastal manager, will share information about the
Audubon program. Additionally, Billy Hassell will discuss his Audubon Texas Avian Art Series,
including the most recent limited-edition lithographs Brown Pelican, Turbulent Sea I and
II (2010) commemorating the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and Audubon's work to
restore and care for the Gulf. These most recent limited edition lithographs were designed
and drawn by Billy Hassell and printed in collaboration with master printer Peter Webb in
Austin, Texas. Brown Pelican, Turbulent Sea I and II will be available for purchase, with a
portion of the proceeds supporting Audubon Texas conservation programs and The MAC.

LARGE GALLERY
Billy Hassell
WATERSHED

"That area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably
linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded
that they become part of a community."
- John Wesley Powell

WATERSHED, an exhibition of paintings and color lithographs by local DFW artist Billy Hassell,
surveys the current state of humanities most important natural resource, water. With keen
observation, Hassell's stylized depictions of our eco-system center on environments with rivers,
wetlands, lakes, and the vegetation that surround them. Amongst the vivid color, detailed
patterns and simplicity in form, these landscapes also serve as a representation of the
severity of water stress around the globe.

The title for the exhibition, WATERSHED, refers to the definition of watershed, stated in the
quote above by John Wesley Powell (geologist, explorer, ethnologist 1834 -1902). Hassell
applies the watershed moment - that pivotal moment of illumination or a turning of tides-
to suggest that all sources of freshwater are, in fact, part of one large and intricate
watershed that we all share.

Billy Hassell received his Bachelor of Fine Art at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame,
Indiana in 1978 and his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
Massachusetts in 1982. Hassell's paintings are included in the permanent collections of
the Dallas Museum of Art, the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth, the Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston, Texas, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas and various other private and public
collections.

SQUARE GALLERY
Carol Selter
Animal Stories

The MAC is pleased to present California Bay Area artist Carol Selter. Renowned for her use
of photography, Selter explores our relationship to the natural world. Her exhibition, Animal
Stories, unites three bodies of work that utilize taxidermy to contemplate the displacement
of wildlife due to the actions or in-actions of humans.

The photographic series, The Calendar Pictures, subverts the conventional wildlife calendar
that defines many office cubicles. These paper windows offer only illusions of animals
undisturbed in their natural habitats. In an act of extending reparations, Selter stages
taxidermy specimens in familiar landscapes, offering them a second chance at life
through her photographs.

In the videos that comprise A Turtle and Two Squirrels Walk Into a Bar..., taxidermy appears
again, this time with an inquisitive voice. Selter's anthropomorphic subjects express
emotional responses to events such as deforestation or loss of fresh water. Here we
observe a sea turtle swimming laden with marine debris, a seagull searching for the
inundated shore line where it used to nest, followed by squirrels discussing a recent
heat wave. Selter's witty approach does not trivialize the serious predicaments these
animals are facing. Rather, humor and pathos form a dynamic equilibrium that
make their situation relatable to the viewer. By contrast, the series, Burning Down
the House, conveys no shred of humor. Selter re-purposes plaster masks of animals
discarded by zoos and presents them as death masks. These masks, most of unknown
origin, are grave reminders of extinction.

Carol Selter received her Master of Fine Art in Photography from the School of Art and Design, San
Jose State University in 2002. She also holds degrees in botany and biology. Her work has been
exhibited at Gallery 16, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art, Harvard University and CEPA Gallery in Buffalo, New York. Selter will participate in the 2012
Dallas Art Fair with her gallery representation Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

NEW WORKS SPACE
Daniel-Kayne

Mine...Mine...

Daniel-Kayne, a Houston based performance and installation artist, will exhibit Mine...Mine...
in the New Works Space gallery. Mine...Mine... is a response to the notion of claiming
ownership over natural resources. Kayne explores the struggle to attain fresh water in
under-developed countries. Without a sustainable fresh water plan, the citizens of these
countries suffer the consequences as their population expands. To delineate this imbalance,
Kayne employs percentages as a visual tool. Fresh water is represented by the amount of
water in the human body and the remaining percentage by human ash. Kayne's
motivations are multi-faceted. He seeks to inspire consciousness in our society to benefit
not only the environment but humanity as a whole.

Daniel-Kayne studied painting at The Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts
Houston and continued his artistic education through an installation/painting residency
at the New York School of Visual Arts in 2006. In 2009, Kayne completed a residency with
the Texan French Alliance for the Arts in Paris, France. After returning to Houston in 2010,
Kayne has been involved in performance, installation, and sculptural projects at Diverse
Works Art Space, The Orange Show and Deborah Colton Gallery. Recently, Kayne was
involved in the design for a Texan French Alliance for the Arts project titled Notre Soleil
located in Lyon, France. Notre Soleil, a 46 meter circumference sculpture and Earth
permanent public art work, focuses on interacting and involving the children of
Centre Léon Bérard Hospital in Lyon, France.

BILLY HASSELL
WATERSHED

CAROL SELTER
ANIMAL STORIES

DANIEL-KAYNE
MINE...MINE...
April 14 through May 19, 2012.

BETSY WILLIAMSON: REWRITING ART HISTORY
AT MERCANTILE COFFEE HOUSE AS PART OF THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN
THE MAC AND THE MERCANTILE COFFEE HOUSE
may 17 through June 23.

Betsy Williamson, Rethinking Art History # 25, collage, 2010, 17" x 11"

As part of The McKinney Avenue Contemporary's community outreach program, The MAC
has teamed up with Mercantile Coffee House to extend its contemporary artistic vision and
educational support to downtown Dallas. This partnership will promote and support emerging
talent with monthly exhibitions throughout the year. Donations from Mercantile Coffee House
will benefit artistic programming at The MAC.

The MAC and Mercantile Coffee House are pleased to present Rewriting Art History by Betsy
Williamson. Betsy Williamson is a mixed media artist currently teaching studio art in the DFW
area. In 2011, Williamson received her MFA in Photography and MA in Art History from The University
of North Texas. She received her BFA in Photography from The University of Texas at Arlington in
2006. Williamson has exhibited in numerous spaces in Texas and will soon be
presenting a solo exhibition, Mining the Textbooks of Art History at the ARC Gallery and
Educational Foundation in Chicago, Illinois.

Williamson's Rewriting Art History focuses on the presentation of art history in book form as well
as in the classroom. Williamson employs appropriated images of art historically relevant works
and sentences from Art Forms textbooks to investigate the viewer's experience and
interpretation. The opening reception will be on May 17 from 6:00 - 7:00pm. Betsy
Williamson: Rewriting Art History will be on view at Mercantile Coffee House through June 23.

Through The MAC's innovative efforts and artistic advisement, visitors to The Mercantile
Coffee House will have the opportunity to view and interact with contemporary art in
a non-traditional setting. This initiative is congruent with The MAC mission of supporting
experimentation and promoting a visual dialogue between the artist and the viewer.
Mercantile Coffee House will exhibit emerging artists using a variety of media, enhancing
the setting and experience for visitors.

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