Getting around in the city can be intense, whether you’re swerving on your bike to avoid oblivious pedestrians, crammed into a crowded bus at rush hour, or squeezing past that bus in a car. The crush can be oppressive, but it can also have moments of hectic beauty; the latter is what inspires Shawn McNulty and Dave Whannel, whose massive abstract works convey the complexities of urban interaction. McNulty often approaches street life from an aerial perspective, which equalizes the people and machines in motion, and reveals inequities at the same time. Whannel’s paintings, as big as small cars, include hidden objects that reward those who take the time to make a careful inspection.
