Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Upcoming Exhibition Aftermath: Disasters Happen and Artists React
Disasters Happen and Artists React: Target Gallery’s upcoming exhibition Aftermath takes a hard look at artists’ interpretations and reactions to natural and manmade disasters.
(Alexandria, VA) Target Gallery’s exhibition Aftermath includes a wide range of artists and their work that represent a great cross section of our country to include a few local and international artists as well. They speak through their art about the effects that traumatic events from natural and manmade disasters has had on them personally and on their work. As our juror, Laurel Reuter, Founder and Chief Curator of the North Dakota Museum of Art states, “Today’s artists are not asked to record the definitive history of their times but instead to give their contemporary audiences the means to understand their own times. Ours is not a contemplative society; artists often are. For some artists, like some writers, assume the role of moral compass.”
Ms. Reuter had over 500 entries to sort through, many of which were powerful and outstanding works, out of those entries close to 40 works made the cut. The media spans traditional painting and printmaking to more new media such as video and site specific installations. The work responds to all kinds of disaster whether literally through a photograph or a video or in a conceptual and abstract way by the means of painting or by thousands of tiny bandages wrapping a gallery wall.
The work seeks to create and stir a dialogue with the viewer; some of the work will strike at the innermost chords of our being exposing the vulnerability that exists. It exposes our weaknesses and our imperfect nature. No matter how prepared or powerful we may feel, a disaster has a profound way of bringing us back to earth and to the realization that anything can happen and that our time here is very precious and fleeting. The exhibition also provides a glimpse of the power of art and its unique way of helping people and communities heal, come together and attempt to understand the chaotic nature that exists when disaster strikes.
The exhibition runs from September 3- October 12 with a special reception and candlelight vigil on September 11, from 6-9pm. Programming for the evening consists of a reception for the artists from 6-8pm, remarks from our special guests Gifts In Kind International spokeswoman Melissa Lanning-Trumpower and Executive Director Shanti Norris of Smith Farm Center for Healing and the Arts which begins at 7pm. A special candlelight vigil is planned out on the docks in front of the Torpedo Factory Art Center beginning at 8:30pm.
For additional information about this exhibition and the special programming on September 11 please contact the Target Gallery. The entire exhibition will be online beginning September 3 at www.torpedofactory.org you can also stay up to date about events happening in the gallery by visiting our Target News page at http://www.torpedofactory.org/galleries/targetnews.php.
High Resolution Images available upon request
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Julie Camarata Performance this Thursday at 6pm
Live Performance this Thursday, July 31st at 6pm on the waterfront outside the Torpedo Factory! One of Julie Camarata's oil eating creatures from SLICK comes alive! Check it out!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A Slippery Proposition: artist makes statement about the oil industry as she transforms the Target Gallery into an oilrig platform
The gallery will be presenting its first artist in residence/installation project. Julie Camarata, installation artist from Knoxville, TN will be creating her site-specific installation titled “Slick” beginning on July 23. The gallery will be open to the public during the two-week installation process from July 23- August 6, so that visitors to the gallery can learn and experience this project as it evolves. At the end of the two-week residency, the gallery will be hosting a reception for the artist on Thursday evening August 7 from 6-8pm and the artist will be providing a brief discussion during the reception at 7pm about her installation. The exhibition will remain open for an additional two weeks closing on August 24. This event is free and open to the public.
Camarata’s installation examines the timely idea concerning the necessity, dangers and beauty of oil. Her installation will encompass the entire gallery space to include paintings and drawing directly onto the wall, building an oilrig platform complete with faux oil spilling from it and onto the floor. The artist is a recent MFA graduate from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Camarata’s proposal was chosen from a pool of applicants from all over the country. The juror for this opportunity was Dale Ihnken, artist and arts administrator from Baltimore, MD. Mr. Ihnken is the Executive Director of the Hamiltonian Artists in Washington DC. Ihnken’s organization is designed to help promote emerging artists. He is also a Professor of Art with George Mason University.
Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday 12-6pm and late on Thursdays until 9pm.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Welcome to the new Target Gallery Blog!
Thanks for visiting our new blog for the Target Gallery, national exhibition space for the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Please check back regularly for updates about what we have going on & news about the gallery!
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