Colorful Silence
Works by Mickey McGrath
January 14 – March 9, 2025
Virtual Artist Talk: Thursday, January 23, 7–8 p.m. Registration Required
In-person Artist Talk and Reception: Sunday, March 2, 1:00–3:00 p.m. Open to the public
Colorful Silence begins the Gallery’s season with an exhibition by New Jersey artist, Brother Mickey O’Neill McGrath, Oblate of St. Francis de Sales. Br. Mickey is a writer, painter, and storyteller. Previously, his Clare Gallery 2010 exhibition, A Fresh Look at Some of Our Best Loved Traditions, Holy Saints, and Timeless Mysteries, focused on the stories of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. This year’s exhibition, Colorful Silence, features quotes from modern “mystics” such as Richard Rohr, Dorothy Day, St. Therese, as well as others. Br. Mickey skillfully paints their social justice—or intimate spiritual reflections—in high saturation color, as well as with a light, fanciful touch. As he states, his intention is “finding beauty in the margins.”
In Br. Mickey’s creations, color, shapes, and active rhythms work together to create a kaleidoscope of design that dances across his compositions. Many of the pieces contain quotes that ask the viewer to reflect on the mystical nature of life, love, grace, creativity, dreams, being ready and open, and God’s presence. The quotes are “written” in various fonts laid out in architectural, artful ways, creating “text as image” within the landscape of the whole composition. Both image and text interact beautifully to deliver messages about the power of spirituality—however it may come to you.
Br. Mickey credits his first art-making experiences to his Saturday morning art lessons in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA, at the Moore College of Art. There, he experimented with different media. More importantly, he learned in communion with a diverse population of children. He shares: “The real blessings and life lessons I received there were not just about learning how to make art in a variety of techniques and styles, but discovering beauty in and with other kids who did not look like the kids in my white, Catholic, Monday-through-Friday world. In the beginning, Black, Jewish, Puerto Rican, and Asian teens were as new to me as ink, paint, charcoal, and clay. And I grew to love it all.”
Education has been part of Br. Mickey’s life as Associate Professor of Studio Art and Art History at De Sales University, and as an author and illustrator of books, as well as an inspirational speaker. Moreover, since 1987, he has led an annual retreat at the Grünewald Guild, an interfaith art community in the Cascade Mountains of Leavenworth, WA. Br. Mickey received his B.A. at Moravian College and his M.F.A. in painting from American University in Washington, DC. He currently works in his studio in Camden, NJ, creating new works highlighting social justice. Visit bromickeymcgrath.com for more information.
