Gallery • 5 Photos

A visitor looks at paintings by Mary Hughes. / Photo by Ashley Wong

Northeastern’s Gallery 360, an art gallery located between Ell Hall and Curry Student Center, recently welcomed the works of Boston-based artists Mary Hughes and Keith Maddy.

This new exhibit, titled “In Line,” comprises of paintings and paper art, a term for art created from the remains of books in which the pages are cut and layered to create a unique display. Hughes and Maddy both use color schemes that include a lot of greens, blues and reds. Each artist has a particular affinity for detail, using difficult techniques, clean cuts and lines.  

The gallery opening Thursday was a crowded event, bringing in at least 50 viewers primarily from the Greater Boston area within the first half hour. Gallery 360 will have Hughes’ and Maddy’s work on display until April 23.

“This gallery is a beautiful space,” said Ellen Thibault, an attendee from Rockport, Massachusetts. “The lighting and the openness and the way everything is laid out creates a great flow.”

Maddy and Hughes both work out of Fenway Studios, a local gallery less than 1 mile from Northeastern. Both artists focus on intricate line work and colorful palettes. The similarities in the artists’ pieces make them complementary exhibits for Gallery 360 to showcase.

Maddy, who was born in 1964, joked about his lengthy profession in art and discussed how it has helped him develop his techniques, even in something as simple as drawing straight lines.

“I have been making art since I was 5,” Maddy said with a laugh. “The work is all strictly collage-based and all of the materials are vintage children’s books. Everything is meticulously hand cut with an X-Acto knife and scissors and very delicately layered. It’s a long process thinking about drawing and painting, but using paper as my medium.”

Maddy had several of his collages on display, including “Child’s Play,” which depicted various children’s toys and costumes, in addition to scenes of children playing.

“I was invited here to participate by the gallery director, who has been a fan of my work for some time and wanted to give me a platform in which to show it,” Maddy said.

While Maddy uses paper as his medium, Hughes uses paint to represent her intricate artwork.  

One of Hughes’s pieces, titled “Intertidal,” is a three-piece acrylic on canvas painting. It showcases varying shades of blue, green, pink and orange hues, and seemed to depict a coral reef teeming with life.

“I know Hughes and I went to her last show,” said Mark Brus, a Boston resident who attended the gallery opening. “[The work is] still very articulate, still a vocabulary of line work, but these are huge and the palettes are bright and extravagant and you’ve got to love it. And the intricacy of the man [Keith Maddy] who’s showing opposite her … it looks like line work. Almost similar to the line work that’s in her pieces. But it’s all cut paper.”

Gallery 360 holds opening receptions for all new exhibits. Many of the openings are like this one, complete with hor d’oeuvres and open to community members.  

“What happens here is so different each time,” Brus said. “From three-dimensional fantasy, boat construction, to Swiss posters. It’s a nice personal gallery.”

The gallery also employs students to provide information about the exhibits, in addition to public outreach for events and openings.

“The art changes every month or so,” said Kabir Dugal, a second-year computer science and economics combined major who has worked at the gallery for more than a year. “It’s really cool to see and meet the artists.”

The gallery organizes professional openings and partners with artists who are proud to have their work on display in an art space at Northeastern.

“I didn’t know Northeastern got so much outside artistic talent. This is awesome,” said attendee Srishti Goyai, a first-year Northeastern graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in architecture.

The unique intricacies, mediums and styles of these two artists, as well as the recognition they have in the Fenway art community, made this gallery opening particularly popular.

“The work is really intense, really interesting,” said Melanie Hashiguchi, a Northeastern graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in architecture. “A lot of blood, sweat and tears obviously goes into producing all of this work.”

Samuel Kim contributed to this article.