‘Between the literal and abstract’

“Tokyo Moose” (acrylic and oil on canvas), by Patrick McCay, in his show “And She Feeds You Tea and Oranges That Come All the Way From China,’’ at Whistler House Museum of Art, Lowell, Mass.

The museum says:

“Patrick McCay’s work occupies the space between the literal and abstract. Skillfully orchestrated colors pepper the expressive surfaces of chosen icons. Grounded in a scaffold of remarkable drawings and an immediacy of gestural brushstrokes, he tempts and teases with a visual theatricality, adding the dignity of the ‘unknown’ to that which is all too well ‘known.’ McCay focuses his visual explorations within the imposed contours and attentive challenge of thematic expression.’’