Dennis McGonagle and his partner, Tyler Kinnaman, have completed a mural, a 300 square foot scene of Broadway Lights on the stage of the Fairgrove Academy Auditorium in La Puente, California. The mural was commissioned by the school's principal, Penny Fraumeini, who wanted a backdrop for the school's upcoming play, Broadway Lights.



More pictures of the Phantom City Mural!

Visit Dennis McGonagle's Website

Visit The Fairgrove Academy Website

Next event for Rock the Era:
Sunday, April 11th: Victory over Violence Open House & Rock the Era
Address: East LA Buddhist Centre 747, Del Valle Ave, La Puente, CA 91744
Time: 10AM – 4PM


Dennis McGonagle will paint and direct a seven foot by forty foot mural on a two walls in the East Los Angeles Community Center in La Puente. The mural will be painted during a Victory Over Violence Open House at the Community Center.

"I will begin preparing the walls, (five and one-half foot wall in front of a seven foot wall.), on Saturday, April 3rd. My crew of volunteers and I will prepare the wall with a toned underpainting. Then, I will then snap a grid on the wall and transfer the line drawing to the surface of the mural. That way, I can direct the painting of the design using premixed jars of color.
1000 people are expected at the festival and any and all are invited to help work on the wall.
Independent film star Doobie McDonald will assist with the mural.
The mural will celebrate the goal of Victory Over Violence. It will feature strong color contrast in a composition that features abstract and realistic elements." - Dennis McGonagle

Come join the energy as we paint a 7' X 40' mural on two walls of the parking lot at the East Los Angeles Community Center in La Puente. The mural will be part of a Victory Over Violence Open House at the SGI Center. In addition to the mural, there will be exhibitions, booths and information workshops, and performances. No experience necessary. The mural needs your creative input!

Date: Sunday, April 11, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 4:00pm
Location: ELACC, 747 Del Valle Avenue La Puente, CA 91744

You are invited to help paint an exciting Phantom City mural on the stage of Fairgrove Academy. I will be there on each of the next two Saturdays from 8 to 2. come for an hour, or paint the whole time. Be part of the energy!

Start Time: Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 8:00am
End Time: Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 2:10pm
Location: Fairgrove Academy www.fairgrove.hlpusd.k12.ca.us 15540 Fairgrove Avenue La Puente, CA 91744-1620 (626) 933-8500

Dennis McGonagle and his partner, Tyler Kinnaman, have begun work on their latest mural, a 300 square foot scene of Broadway Lights on the stage of the Fairgrove Academy Auditorium in La Puente, California. The mural was commissioned by the school's principal, Penny Fraumeini, who wanted a backdrop for the school's upcoming play, Broadway Lights. Unlike most stage backdrops, this mural will become a permanent fixture in the school. Mcgonagle is running with the idea of Broadway lights. "I think of the historic nickname of the Broadway theatre district, which is "The great white way", said McGonagle.
"My mural will have strong dark light contrast. The brightest lights will emerge from the darkness of the midnight sky. I will also contrast warm and cool, and very close and very far. I want this wall to be exciting and inspirational for the students and teachers of Fairgrove." McGonagle is drawing further inspiration from The Phantom City parable in the Lotus Sutra. In the parable, a fabulous city is created by the leader of a caravan who is guiding exhausted travelers on a journey across time and space. When the travelers have been rested and refreshed, the leader waves his hand and the city disappears.
The Fairgrove mural will be painted on Saturdays in February and its scheduled completion date will be February 27th. The pair of mural painters plans on inviting a team of artists to assist and collaborate with them beginning in mid-February. "Once the lines are blocked in, we're bringing in an all-star team of painters to help us", Mcgonagle declared. "The eneregy level of this mural will be off the charts".

"Collaborations" the current show at Casita del Pueblo, is a colorful, high-energy display of the colaborative work of Dennis and Terry McGonagle. I was facinated with the multiple techniques used to apply acrylic paint layers to canvas. Dennis and Terry have worked together to produce works of exquisit texture and color. Very creative! - Vicki Schramm


This show runs through Feb. 10, 2010 - don't miss it!

Dennis and Terry McGonagle
“Collaborations”

January 11th to Feb.10th, 2010
Opening Reception: January 16th, 6 to 9 P.M.

Terry and Dennis McGonagle have been collaborating on paintings for over a year now. This exhibit will be the official debut of a very unique and different kind of art. The pieces are multi-layered; the viewer can find images on the surface and in the depths of these works. They are composed of many layers of transparent and translucent color. They are tactile; their surfaces are alive with textures and patterns. They are very sculptural as well, with objects emerging from the surface.

Typically, a painting begins with recycled paint that has dried up on a palette, removed, and cut into shapes. The shapes are applied to a canvas that has been prepared with acrylic gel medium. The wet, collaged surface is then painted into with acrylic paint and embellished with nontraditional materials. The result is a surface that sparkles with jewel-like color and hints at a mysterious world.

The paintings are inspired by mythology, Loteria cards, and trips to cities on both coasts. Some are done by Dennis, some by Terry, but most are a combined effort by the husband and wife team. Hence the name, "Collaborations".


"El Boracho", acrylic and mixed media on canvas

Please visit Dennis McGonagle's website at www.McGonagleStudio.com!

Casita del Pueblo Gallery
6738 Greenleaf Avenue, Whittier, CA 90601
(562) 693- 2844

Dennis McGonagle has recently completes a new series of paintings featuring views of the Huntington Library Jungle Garden.
In the artist's own words:

"I have recently completed six landscapes featuring views of the Huntington Library Jungle Garden. Like Henri Rousseau, whose visits to the zoo and botanical gardens in Paris resulted in dreamlike scenes of tropical Mexico, my visits to the Huntington have inspired a series of images of a primeval world.

The paintings were painted on the site in the cool mornings before the Huntington opened its doors to the public. I employed optical blending and an expressionist palette in order to communicate the experience of painting by the singing waterfalls.

Mystic Jungle is the largest of the works and it features a close up view of the upper waterfall. In the center of the composition sits a large, green, moss-covered stone, the result of the endless shower from the cascading falls. Like some sort of water god, the stone exuded a mystical presence."
For more information, please visit Dennis McGonagle's website: www.McGonagleStudio.com

Dennis McGonagle has been painting landscapes and murals in Whittier, California since 1975. You can see more of his work at his website: http://www.mcgonaglestudio.com
In the artist's own words: "I call this painting Golden Time because it is being painted in the late afternoon when the last rays of the sun come dancing across the lawn. It's a wonderful time to paint a neighborhood scene. The neighbors are out walking their babies and dogs. Billowing clouds come drifting by. A cool breeze blows the leaves down the street.
I like the sensory bombardment that comes when I do plein air painting. The shifting light, the random sounds coming from houses and cars, the conversations with people that pass by on the sidewalk. All of these elements find their way into the painting.
The painting itself is like a visual diary, a series of moments. I notice something different in the landscape every time I come there. One day it will be the play of light on a fence, the next day I will focus on the color contrast between bricks and grass.
This is the first in a series of landscapes I have planned for Whittier. For inspiration, I am looking to George Bellows, John Sloan, and the Ashcan School. I am also mixing in the American Scene paintings of Edward Hopper and Charles Burchfield for good measure.
I am guided by the advice of James Doolin for the composition, who said, "My paintings need to be strong on the abstract level, clear on the descriptive level, and mysterious on the narrative level."