McKay Otto | Ever Legacies Ever
October 6 - November 19
H-E-B Gallery @ 204 S. Austin
Reception Friday, October 13, 5-7pm
Artist Talk Saturday, October 14, 1:30pm
Ever Legacies Ever, presented by Karen Mella, Realtor, showcasing the mind-bending painting/sculpture creations of artist McKay Otto, is coming Oct. 6–Nov. 19 in the H-E-B Gallery on the upper level.
An artist reception with Otto will be held Friday, Oct. 13, from 5–7 p.m. RCA will also host an artist talk, on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 1:30 p.m., where Otto will be joined by Catherine Anspon, arts and features executive editor at PaperCity Magazine, to discuss his work and process. Both events will be held in the H-E-B Gallery and are free and open to the public.
The Ever Legacies Ever exhibition includes both the geometric works Otto is known for and a series of photo-like depictions of deceased, iconic South Texans including politician Frances “Sissy” Farenthold (Corpus Christi), artist Betty Mobley (Corpus Christi), artist Estelle Stair (Rockport), sculptor Jesús Bautista Moroles (Rockport), artist and philanthropist Ann Harithas (Houston), rancher Robert Hewitt (Victoria), artist Madeline O’Connor (Victoria), rancher Missi Thomas (Cuero), and philanthropist Jeanie Wyatt (San Antonio).
Growing up in Fort Bend County just outside of Houston, Otto earned his B.A. in business from The University of Texas in 1970 at the urging of his father and became successful in real estate, but eventually followed his true passion for art, receiving scholarships to attend Houston’s Glassell School of Arts in the 90s. Now living and working in the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin and in Santa Fe, N.M., he continues to investigate painting/sculpture processes using various acrylic materials.
Known for his ethereal paintings that evoke lightboxes, Otto continues to investigate blending painting and sculpture processes using various acrylic materials, which led him to create a multi-dimensional translucent canvas that moves beyond the traditional flat two-dimensional surface with the illusion of movement and light.
“I explore the nature of perception and the way that non-physical reflections of light can be transformed into immersive experiences for the viewer,” said Otto. “Always fascinated by the uncertainty of human perception, and the duplicitous nature of vision, which can be both revealing and deceitful, I create paintings that delve into this duality. Upon first read, they are austere, geometric abstractions. After further observation, however, the paintings begin to vibrate: light and color become evident and the surface reveals that there are numerous layers beneath. The paintings dissipate into sensuous fields of immaterial color that seem to push space in and out.”
In a recent essay on Otto’s Legacies series, renowned art historian and author Susie Kalil notes the presence of light inhabiting the paintings much as we experience light in a lucid dream.
“Otto aims to commemorate and capture the spiritual energy of the dynamic individuals who helped shape the South Texas region,” wrote Kalil. “Poised at the edge of a vastness that lies beyond our limited power to comprehend, we may feel vulnerable, anxious and just a little afraid. Yet Otto asks us to trust, let go and give ourselves to the dark. The spectral presences emanate from these ethereal environments, hovering before our eyes, unanchored by visual formulations of scale, distance and direction. They come and go into the light and darkness. Their faces are suspended in layers of transparent acrylic, disappearing and reappearing in space as we approach the paintings. The overall effect is of souls passing between dimensions, gradually fading into the ether.
“Some faces fill the smaller works as if peering through windows or portals; others appear larger than life, relating as body-to-body. The dramatic portraits of these courageous risk-takers are illuminated presences — they are less on the wall than they are in the room with us.”
Over the years, Otto’s work has been included in group museum exhibitions, as well as numerous solo exhibitions in galleries and art centers. In 2022 he was named Innovative Artist of the Year at The Delaplaine Art Center in Frederick, Md., and has works in current exhibitions at both The Irving Art Center, Irving Texas, and Artspace 111 in Fort Worth. Otto has been selected for a second year as one of the artists featured at the Houston Art Alliance’s annual “Add on Art Gala” to be held Oct. 20, 2023.
His work can be found in important private and corporate collections across the U.S. and has been well documented in numerous books including “Texas Artists Today,” by Catherine Anspon and “Texas Abstract” by Michael Paglia and Jim Edwards, with many of his exhibitions being cataloged and reviewed in various art publications such as “Art in America.”