Get drawn to the dark arts of Third Thursday's 'Heroes, Myths and the Make Believe' exhibition

As part of downtown’s Third Thursday Gallery Hop, the Gallery at Avalon Island opens a new exhibition tonight, and it’s a particularly strong one. Another group show, it brings together painters Tara Atefi, Matt Duke, Bethany Duvall, Brandon Geurts and Plinio Pinto, and while there’s no theme per se, the collection of darkly glowing, pretty-but-raw portraits and abstracts is unusually cohesive.

“I love the idea that we only see things one layer at a time, and if we slow down and stare, the world is a much larger and interesting place,” Duke told us; he was discussing his own work, but could just as easily have been referring to the multi-layered experience of Third Thursdays. The show hangs through Saturday, July 11, with Avalon’s traditional Artist Talks scheduled at noon that day. 

Heroes, Myths and the Make Believe 6-9 p.m. Thursday, June 18 | The Gallery at Avalon Island, 39 S. Magnolia Ave. | free