UD Presents: ‘Dwelling: Paintings by Peter Ligon and Layla Luna’

Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery Features Dallas/Fort Worth ‘Dwelling’ Artists

The Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallery is pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition featuring two Dallas/Fort Worth area artists, Peter Ligon and Layla Luna, who articulate the architectural styling of dwelling spaces in their paintings.

Both artists will give presentations at an opening reception on Friday, March 23, at 5:30 p.m. in the Haggar Art History Auditorium located in the Haggerty Art Village on the University of Dallas’ Irving campus. A reception will immediately follow in the gallery, and the exhibition will remain available for viewing through April 28, 2018.

“These locations are places I feel an affinity for — where there’s a combination of colors that look good together in a composition,” said Ligon, whose exhibition pieces showcase small-scale oil paintings, featuring an assortment of buildings, houses and sheds.

Ligon’s sources are predominately observational, as he regularly paints on location, surveying the light, color and shapes of his subjects. He captures scenic landscapes with sweeping gestures of thin oil paint. Next, Ligon paints smaller passages to explore the abstraction of his buildings and landscape; light and shadow form geometric shapes to emphasize the basic outlines of buildings. While his paintings blend together a myriad of abstracted elements, his works also presents a distinct shade of realism.

From her studio in Fort Worth, Texas, Luna delves further into the complex notions of home, drawing on her memories of travel and artistic research. Her featured series, in fact, she titled “Shapes of Shelter.” “Some individuals seek refuge within that space while others wish to escape it. I find the uneasiness of that pull and push fascinating,” said Luna.

Luna began her work by initially investigating the structures and materials of early shelters used by North American cultures, such as caves, tipis and pueblos. From this practice, she discovered consistent curve-shaped patterns, which she incorporated as a recurring motif throughout her exhibition works. Luna’s brightly colored landscapes are oriented vertically in what we traditionally associate with portrait painting. Like Ligon, Luna’s paintings give viewers a space to dwell in reflection on the places and spaces we inhabit.

Artist Biographies

​Peter Ligon received a bachelor of fine art from the University of North Texas and an MFA from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. He’s had solo exhibitions at the artist-run Oak Cliff gallery Mighty Fine Arts; RE Gallery in Dallas; The Safe Room at the Texas Theatre in Dallas; Dahlia Woods Gallery in San Marcos, Texas; Gallery 219 at Eastfield College; Lago Vista Gallery at Richland College; and the Mildred Hawn Gallery at SMU. He has also displayed work at artist showings and galleries, including the Barry Whistler Gallery, CentralTrak, Dallas Contemporary, Gray Matters Gallery, Liliana Bloch Gallery, Meadows Museum, McKinney Avenue Contemporary and Plush Gallery in Dallas; 333 Montezuma Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Red Mill Gallery in Johnson, Vermont; and Galleri Rødhusgaarden in Pandrup, Denmark. A founding resident of the artist-run cooperative Shamrock Hotel Studios in Dallas, Ligon currently teaches drawing, art appreciation, printmaking and painting at the University of Texas at Dallas, Eastfield Community College and the School of Continuing and Professional Education at SMU.

Layla Luna received her MFA in painting from Texas Christian University and her bachelor’s from Arizona State University. She studied at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand, where she obtained a postgraduate diploma in fine art. She’s had solo exhibitions at the Lawndale Art Center in Houston, as well as at both the Moudy Gallery and Gallery 76102 in Fort Worth. Artist-in-residence programs include the Kimmel Harding Nelson in Nebraska City, Nebraska; the Rensing Center in Pickens, South Carolina; Weir Farm Art Center in Wilton, Connecticut; Prairie Center of the Arts in Peoria, Illinois; Madroño Ranch in Medina, Texas; and Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming.  

In observance of Easter and Good Friday, the Haggerty Gallery will be closed from Friday, March 30, through Monday, April 2, 2018.

Visit the Beatrice M. Haggerty Gallerty to learn more about this exhibition. 

Image Credit: (left) Peter Ligon, "House with Shrubs," 2017; (right) Layla Luna, "Green Diamond Tipis," 2017.