Click on images for galleries
The Aftermath
October 9, 2022
12-1:30pm
West Building to the right of the entrance
Experience a moving piece of art as dancers call upon themes reflected in Elizabeth Alexander’s newly installed work and you did not even know enough to be sorry. Referencing our fleeting sense of safety and loss within these “unprecedented times,” this scene of comfort and order becomes a beautiful disaster of paper storm debris mixed with deliberate deconstruction. Blakeney Bullock and Miles Yeung-Tieu move within Alexander’s site-specific installation to an original soundtrack by Todd Bowser.
The performers embody the great oscillation between immobility and mania that happens inside catastrophic weather events—tightness-holding despair on one side; beauty, relief, release, and mutual aid on the other. The body, like the storm, holds unknowable multitudes and can become a comfortable order or a tragic spectacle. What do these extremes do as characters in a duet? What relationships are created, projected, and witnessed? Drop in for a glimpse or stay for the full 90 minutes as this corner of West Building fills with ambient sound and movement.
IDEAL HOME: Objects of Desire
Ogden, Utah
August 12- October 16, 2022
This August, Ogden Contemporary Arts presents Ideal Home, featuring distinct bodies of work by multidisciplinary artists Elizabeth Alexander (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) and Kasey Lou Lindley (Salt Lake City, Utah). Together, the artists’ work represents unique processes in paper, collage and installation art, with connecting concepts that reflect on the idealism of home and environment in past and present-day America.
Elizabeth Alexander’s Objects of Desire explores the American idealism of home and the ways in which domestic perfection is at odds with the reality of humanity. Her installations utilize nostalgic, home-related objects that were once coveted symbols of success such as wallpaper, porcelain ware, and distinct furniture pieces in ways that insert chaotic beauty into spaces of domestic harmony. Her work unpacks the social, cultural and psychological implications of American idealism around domesticity, success and safety, representing home as a space that “serves both as a projection of our ideal self and one that houses our darkest and brightest moments.”
Our America/Whose America?
AUGUST 6 – OCTOBER 30, 2022
FERRIN CONTEMPORARY
at 1315 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA 01247
Our America, Whose America will present a dialogue between contemporary artists and a collection of commercially produced ceramics. This collection of historical objects, collected across the span of several years by Founding Director Leslie Ferrin, are in the form of plates, souvenirs, and figurines from the early 19th through mid-20th centuries. The items were produced in England, Occupied Japan, and various factories in the USA. The exhibition title was chosen from a series of plates produced by Vernon Kiln that features illustrations of American scenes by the painter Rockwell Kent.
In response to this historical collection, contemporary works by nearly 30 participating artists will provide new context and interpretation of these profoundly powerful objects. Seen now, decades and in some cases centuries later, the narratives they deliver through image, characterization, and stereotype, whether overt and bombastic or subtle and cunning, form a collective memory that continues to impact the way people see themselves and others today. -Ferrin Contemporary
Imprinted: Illustrating Race
June 11 through October 30, 2022
9 Glendale Rd / Rte 183
Stockbridge , MA 01262
Imprinted: Illustrating Race examines the role of published images in shaping attitudes toward race and culture. Over 300 artworks and objects on view of widely circulated illustrated imagery will be on view, produced from the late eighteenth century to today, which have an impact on public perception about race in the United States. The exhibition will explore stereotypical racial representations that have been imprinted upon us through the mass publication of images. It culminates with the creative accomplishments of contemporary artists and publishers who have shifted the cultural narrative through the creation of positive, inclusive imagery emphasizing full agency and equity for all. -Norman Rockwell Museum
Nature Morte
Rowe Galleries at UNC Charlotte
Charlotte, NC
September 9, 2022 - tba
"Nature Morte" explores the still life tradition through works by major contemporary artists.
Rowe Galleries and the Department of Art & Art History are the first American hosts of a stunning exhibition developed by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in London. Opening September 21, Nature Morte: Contemporary Artists Reinvigorate the Still Life Tradition seeks to illustrate how leading artists of the 21st century have reinvigorated still life, a genre strongly identified with the 16th and 17th centuries. This major exhibition will be one of the largest ever presented at the Rowe Galleries, with works displayed by national and international artists such as Gabriel Orozco, Wayne Thiebaud, Jennifer Steinkamp, and Donald Sultan, alongside works by local artists such as MyLoan Dinh, Linda Foard Roberts, and Andrew Leventis. A full list of exhibiting artists is below.
Coined in the South: 2022
Durham, NC
March 26, 2022-July 3, 2022
I am so pleased to announce that All Things Bright and Beautiful was selected for this show highlighting about 40 artists working in the Southeast. It is a diverse and dynamic exhibition.
I am extra pleased to announce that this installation was selected for the People's Choice Award in the show.
The Young Affiliates of the Mint, in collaboration with The Mint Museum, presents Coined in the South: 2022. .
Reckoning and Resilience:
North Carolina Art Now
Durham, NC
January 13 – July 10, 2022
I am so pleased to announce that A Mightier Work is Ahead is debuting among the work of 30 NC artists in Reckoning and Resilience. This show is absolutely worth a visit!
"Reckoning and Resilience: North Carolina Art Now brings together 30 emerging and established artists working across the state. This group survey, featuring approximately 100 works, presents an expansive view of contemporary art in North Carolina both in terms of regional geography and artistic approaches.
With media ranging from traditional drawing, painting, sculpture and photography, to ceramics, textiles, performance and experimental video, the selected artists explore themes surrounding historical and current events, identity, loss and remembrance, and trauma and healing. After two years marked by a global pandemic, political chaos, ongoing deadly racism and environmental injustice, the need to reexamine ourselves and the world around us has never been more urgent. The artists included in this exhibition invite us to reckon with hard truths, seek healing in collective reflection, and demand transformative action." -Nasher Museum
Break the Mold
New Takes on Traditional Art Making
September 25, 2021–January 30, 2022
East Building, Level B, Joyce W. Pope Gallery
I am so pleased to announce that The Great Enemy of Truth and Let Him Speak First are included among 25 incredible contemporary artists placed in conversation with historical objects at the North Carolina Museum of Art. This show is absolutely worth a visit!
"Tradition plays an uncomfortable role in contemporary art. Artists working today strive to make something new, to revolutionize subject matter or materials, or contribute something unexpected—but the art that came before provides an important context and, sometimes, much-needed contrast. The historic and the contemporary, then, feed each other in meaningful ways: contemporary art extends the lineage of these craft and artistic traditions, while historical work expands the context for the contemporary." -NCMA
Call & Response
Craft as a Tool for Activism
Museum of Craft and Design
July 30, 2021 - undetermined
Virtual Exhibition
Images of The Great Enemy of Truth will be included in the upcoming exhibition Call & Response: Craft as a Tool for Activism at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, CA. The show was juried by Glenn Adamson, Ebitenyefa Baralaye, and Nate Watson. I am one of 50 artists whose work you can view wherever you have an internet connection.
"The national reckoning for social justice spurred by protests and the Black Lives Matter movement has made clear that all museums and arts organizations must do better to represent, engage, financially support, and communicate with their BIPOC communities. “Craftivism” celebrates the power of craft to bring about political change. This juried exhibition intends to highlight artists that are working at this crucial intersection of craft and activism, uplifting their political ideals and their communities through their medium of choice." -MCD
Paper Routes
Women to Watch
October 08, 2020 - January 18, 2021
National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Ave, NW Washington DC 20005
I am beyond honored and excited to announce that my work was chosen to be a part of the exhibition Paper Routes: Women to Watch to represent the Massachusetts Committee, from which the nomination itself meant a lot to me.
Paper Routes, the sixth installment in NMWA’s Women to Watch exhibition series, showcases contemporary artists working in paper. Although the exhibition is no longer installed, there are plenty of virtual programming to enjoy.
Follow these links:
BUY THE CATALOG (its really great)
The Sum of Trifles
by Julia Ridley Smith
Holly II from Heirloom was selected to adorn the cover for The Sum of Trifles, a memoir by Julia Ridley Smith published by the University of Georgia Press. "When Julia Ridley Smith's parents died, they left behind a virtual museum of furniture, books, art, and artifacts. Between the contents of their home, the stock from their North Carolina antiques shop, and the ephemera of two lives lived, Smith faced a monumental task. What would she do with her parents' possessions?'"
It has always been a secret wish to see my work on the cover of a book, but I never really thought about the contents of whatever book my work might adorn. Julia Ridley Smith's novel might be the most perfect match ever. I'm thoroughly enjoying this vivid portrait of her late parents told through their objects. Having owned an antique shop in Greensboro, there are many to describe. I'm absolutely in love with this book, it is filled with wit and wisdom about life, death, and material possessions. What is not to love about that?! What a cool honor to be the visual representation for this story.
Available November 1 2021