Gallery Reception: Maureen O’Connor – Just Ducky

The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library in partnership with Uforge are pleased to announce a new exhibition as part of their rotating art program. After soliciting proposals from a range of local artists, a selection committee comprised of community members and BPL staff have chosen six exceptional artists to fill its gallery space over the course of 2018. During the months of May and June, a series of charming works by Boston-based painter Maureen O’Connor will be exhibited.

A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, O’Connor has been exhibiting in Boston since the early 1980s, and her work held in numerous public and private collections, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Goodwin and Proctor, and Fidelity Investments. She is known for her playful still lifes of so-called tchotchke’s -- miscellaneous objects collected around the home -- and candy, often paired with floral or polka dot wallpaper. Lively and bright, her paintings are tinged with nostalgia, recalling 1970s interiors with their fun patterns and decidedly analog subjects. Her works on view in Just Ducky focus on her favorite subject: a pair of ceramic ducks given to her by her former roommate’s mother. These small inanimate knick knacks find new life under O’Connor’s brush, turning their seemingly quizzical expressions on gumball machines, rubber ducky toys, flowers, and each other. Each work allows the artist the opportunity to explore interactions of light and shadow, color and pattern, and a variety of surfaces.

Maureen O’Connor: Just Ducky is on view from May 4 through June 30, 2018, with a public reception to be held on Thursday, May 10, 5:30-7:30 PM. The library is open Monday-Wednesday 10-6, Thursday 12-8, and Friday-Saturday 9-5 (closed Sundays). The exhibition space is located on the lower level.

This exhibition is proudly sponsored by Optical Designs, Inc., a family-owned and operated business located in the heart of Jamaica Plain.