Recently I caught up with Megan Gulledge to discuss her upcoming show “Love Varies” at 101 Café, opening this First Friday. In a town where every other bar or restaurant downtown tries to double as an art gallery, artists’ works often seem to blur together, and it’s rare to find one who really stands out from the crowd. Megan is definitely an emerging artist to take notice of.

When I first came across Megan Gulledge’s show Conversations this Spring at Vintage 21, I was immediately impressed. Megan’s works are beautiful, original, and contain a subtle yet approachable depth. Her works are typically either smaller India Inks or larger mixed media paintings. While they don’t fit into any particular contemporary school, the works are typically abstractions infused with language, often meant to represent an emotional cognition. Megan strives to make her works accessible. When you see one, you get it, but not in the way that much of the pop art prevalent in the triangle is “gettable” as an aesthetic witticism. Rather, it establishes a connection between the viewer that’s meant to be retained rather than discarded; a poem rather than an aphorism.

Megan typically designs her work in a series, beginning with a philosophical conception for the series and then designs it with the space for the installation in mind. “Love Varies” focuses on the idea of the different ways people use the word “love” in their lives. Meant to work with the clean lines, thin walls, and contemporary feel of Café 101, the pieces are tall and vibrant.

While Megan didn’t want to post any images of her new pieces before the opening, as well as the difficulty of adequately photographing her mixed works, you can view some of her earlier pieces here.

This is definitely a First Friday opening not to be missed this month. In addition to the amazing works by Megan, the opening promises to be a great time by having live music and, of course, Café 101 is one of the best spots downtown.

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“Whoever knows he is deep, strives for clarity; whoever would like to appear deep to the crowd, strives for obscurity. For the crowd considers anything deep if only it cannot see to the bottom: the crowd is so timid and afraid of going into the water.”