December 10, 2018
“CADAVRE EXQUIS”
by Chris McAlister
In 1898 seven-year-old Sam Flax arrived in the United States with a dollar in his pocket. Opening his first art supply store in New York City three decades later during the depression Flax catered to customers like Norman Rockwell and Zero Mostel. While many of the Flax stores have now disappeared Sam Flax still maintains operations in Atlanta and Orlando, and the walls of the E Colonial Dr store in Orlando serve as outdoor gallery for a handful of the areas artists, including multi-talented Chris McAlister. While concerns over a dwindling bee population have become a popular theme for artists in recent years, avid nature lover McAlister’s “Cadavre Exquis” offers an interesting new visual metaphor for the importance of bees to our very existence. @mcalisterart/ @samflaxorlando/
