From the State of the Union side, from left to right, two large canvases by Ken Mabrey, a sculpture by Anne Oldach and a painting by Lauren Peters
I was participant in a recent show at the Delaware Contemporary, formerly the DCCA or Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts. It has a simple premise, artists sometimes reflect on the outside world and sometimes on the inside. The exhibit took place in two rooms, one entitled the "State of the Union" which was a more direct representation of artists grappling with current events. The other room was called "State of Mind" which was more inwardly focused, where the artists take comfort or solace in their work. This group show, was comprised of the work of 17 artists, all of whom are residents of the Delaware Contemporary studios. The show hopes to give a peek into how different artists use their art to communicate ideas. It ends Sunday July 16th 2017 but I have some installation shots of the show so you can relive the experience again and again. The photos are courtesy of me, in case you don't know I photograph exhibitions and artwork for artists and museums.
State of the Union, from left to right Ruth Ansel, Hugh Atkins and Caroline Chen
As you can probably imagine some artists are quite political and others, not so much. One interesting aspect of the show figuring out which was which. The State of the Union side of the show purportedly contained the more overtly political work but the State of the Mind also had plenty to think about, with political overtones to much of the work.
State of the union, from left to right, two wall pieces by Jenna Lucente, a sculpture by Karoline Wileczek, an installation by Jennifer Borders and a wall piece Karoline Wileczek.
My own contribution to the show was a collaborative work I did with Don Bethman. Two photographs of styrofoam constructions. We were excited by the idea of found minimalist sculpture that suggest architectural forms. We were trying to make the connection between the optimism of of modernism and growth and the hidden environmental impact behind the gleaming forms, made obvious by the throw-away material.
State of mInd: from left to right, Haeley Kyong, my collaborative works with Don Bethman and Carson Zullinger
This was a fun exhibit and I hope it is just the beginning of more shows in the future. It was somewhat new for the museum to offer a show to the studio artists on this scale. But I am proud of how well the whole thing came together. The Delaware Contemporary deserve a big thanks for making this happen as well as the studio artists for coming up with such compelling work, many of the works tailor-made for this exhibition.
Three works by Verna Hart flank an installation by Max Levenson in the State of Mind room.
Do you find solace and comfort in art or is it an outlet that lets you have an impact on the world around you?
From right to left: Max Levenson, Verna Hart and Caroline Chen
Graham Dougherty on the left and Seong Boyce on the right in the State of Mind
Carson Zullinger's work partially obscuring Max Levenson's installation in State of Mind.
Two portraits by Lauren Peters, an assemblage by Graham Dougherty and two works by Ruth Ansel.