Switchback, noun. 1. A road, trail, or railroad track that follows a zigzag course on a steep incline. 2. A sharp bend in a road or trail on a steep incline.
Gallagher maintains an ongoing conversation between representation and abstraction in his work. He explains, “Images and their associations are constantly slipping, and this slippage can keep the image flexible enough to accommodate a range of readings, making sense out of nonsense that slips back into nonsense.” He built Switchback from the background forward, in a “zigzag course,” using thin applications of translucent, jewel-toned color and overlapping shapes. Sometimes he scratched into the surface to uncover underlying colors that react optically with overlaid pigments.
Gallagher earned his MFA in 2002 from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where he is now a professor of painting and drawing. He is represented by Gross McCleaf Gallery, and his works are in a number of public and corporate collections, such as Woodmere, PAFA, PepsiCo, Time Warner, and the Franklin Mint.
