October 2011, will mark the 2nd time that artist Matthew Ryan Sharp has produced an exhibition for HotPop Gallery in Milwaukee, WI. This time, rather than go it alone, the artist decided to team up with Pittsburgh based artist Ron Copeland for a complete, environmental exhibition experience. Below is the show synopsis:

Up & Left

A Conceptual Exhibition / Installation from Matthew Ryan Sharp & Ron Copeland

Imagine walking into a space that was recently occupied by a group of strangers but now, the only thing remaining is a faint tobacco smell and scattered personal articles left behind due to an abrupt force of change.

Temporary occupation and sudden abandonment is what Up & Left will capture with this exhibition and installation. Much like a traveling-gypsy carnival or a burned-out Midwestern storefront, the exhibition that the artists have created is focusing on themes of desolation, decay, vintage advertisements, letterforms and promotional characters of days gone by. This will give the gallery patrons equal feeling adoration and restlessness. Here one minute…gone the next.

Aged and weathered from dirt and neglect, Up & Left creates an environment for the viewer to be saturated in. By having a mixture of earth-tone colors, found objects and timeless collections, the viewer is left with the ultimate question? What happened here? Where is everyone? It’s as if they just…Up & Left.