Worchester Magazine
"Different Strokes"
Wednesday, 01 April 2009
Dark World Gallery’s sophomore show
By Rainy Standford
Alternative art in alternative spaces. Simply put, that’s the goal of the newest Gallery in Worcester, the Dark World Gallery, which opens its third show to date on April 3, featuring Ohio-based artist Sara Adrian.

The gallery is relatively new and occupies a generous amount of wall space inside Out of the Dark World Tattoo on Grafton Street in Worcester. Shows last for a month each and feature local as well as national artists. The roster of past artists includes many heavily tattooed as well as tattoo-friendly folks. Not surprisingly, director Ben Mack and curator Don Hartmann are both tattoo artists in the studio.

ImageHartmann was first exposed to Adrian’s work when he was an art student at Ohio State University. He later came across her on MySpace and reached out with the hopes of booking a show. “Sara was a great candidate because her work fuses a lot of elements together,” he says. “She has a formality plus a touch of folk/outsider feel. The gallery really wants to push the envelope; the fact that her work is so varied and has a sometimes strange aura to it fits us like a glove.”

This sentiment isn’t a far cry from what Adrian has to say about showing her work in a tattoo studio-slash-gallery. “I tend to focus [on] and glorify being different, celebrating it in fact. Folks who get tattoos are also into expressing themselves by standing out. By being different. I think that this group will be able to relate to my work, and if I’m lucky, find inspiration from it.”

For Adrian, being a part of what many call “lowbrow art” gives her work an unpretentious atmosphere and lends it an air of accessibility. “Showing in tattoo studios or places like this is a way for me to reach an audience that otherwise would not be exposed to the kind of work I do,” she says.

The Dark World Gallery will host Sara Adrian April 3-30. Opening reception will be held April 4 from 6-10 p.m. at the gallery, 179 Grafton St., Worcester. For more show information visit darkworldgallery.com or contact 508-459-5798 or www.darkworldgallery@gmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . For more information about Sara Adrian and her work visit saraadrian.com.

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quote from Columbus Dispatch, Columbus Ohio
Festival celebrates arts in Franklinton
Painters toss up murals at Urban Scrawl
Sunday, September 28, 2008 3:30 AM
By Spencer Hunt

"Sara Adrian had no carefully thought-out image or design for the mural she planned to paint at a Franklinton art festival yesterday.

In just a few minutes, she sketched an outline of a woman and began filling in the background with red spray paint. A yellow spray-painted aura grew around the woman's head.

"When you do street painting like this, you don't have a lot of time to plan," Adrian said. "You just kind of work into it to see what happens."

A board member of the Franklinton Arts District, Adrian helped the group organize its second annual Urban Scrawl festival at Dodge Park yesterday, with 30 artists putting their talents on display."

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quote from the South End News, Detroit Michigan
Art Night at the Fi-Nite
By: Crystal Nelson
Posted: 9/12/07
"Also turning heads at the Fi-Nite Friday evening was Sara Adrian with her paintings titled "Bus Stop Waiting" and "Woman Looking into a Man."

"Bus Stop Waiting" tells a story from a visual perspective of a young woman who is stressed out, tired and angry. Adrian paints with so much detail that viewers can clearly observe the distinctive expression and lines in the young woman's face.

Adrian paints with definition and uses vibrant colors. Due to the continuous non-directional lines that silhouette the young girl in the background with colors such as red, gold and white, it is evident she centers her painting around the mood of her subject. The "Beyond Mod" art exhibit at the Fi-Nite Gallery must be experienced in person in order to appreciate the slew of diverse contemporary work adorning the gallery's walls."
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