In 1987, the US Congress officially declared March as Women’s History Month. Institute 193, in conjunction with this period of pointed national discussion, presents Multiple Personalities, a solo-exhibition by Mare Vaccaro. This exhibition focuses on Vacarro’s use of “self-portrait” photography and prop-construction to explore evolving notions of feminity, beauty, adornment and identity. Vaccaro has alopecia universalis, a genetic miscoded medical condition that renders her body completely hairless. She is thus able to manipulate her physical body as a blank canvas,adorning herself with various found and constructed objects. The result is a series of startling and beautiful images depicting the deconstructed female form in various settings and portrayed as different characters or personalities..The pressure to adorn oneself is perversely satisfied in Vaccaro’s work, calling into question the most basic standards of beauty and gender roles The final product is a gleeful triumph of the individual over society’s expectations or a revelatory acceptance of its overwhelming pressure.
The show features new work by Vaccaro in the form of large-format digital c-prints, sculptural harnesses and a video encased within a gilded mirror. Click on the artist’s name for additional images of Vaccaro’s work.
On February 18, Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore celebrated the release of their new album, Dear Companion, with an in-store performance at CD Central and Afterparty at 193 featuring Morgan O’Kane. The party turned into a late-night jam session featuring performances by Ben Sollee, Cheyenne Mize, Daniel Martin Moore, Morgan O’Kane, Zeke Healy and Ferd Moyse. Click on the videos above to see what you missed…..
Institute 193 is partnering with North of Center, a Lexington-based news publication, to create a series of music performances. Stay tuned for more details. The next show is being scheduled for early April and will be announced soon.
Bruce Burris’ show was “reviewed” – or rather – written about in 3 different Lexington-based publications in addition to White Hot Magazine and various blogs. The articles appeared in the Lexington Herald Leader, Ace Weekly and North of Center. Click on the publication names below to read the full articles. Excerpts from each article are provided below the corresponding links. Watch out for that “swindly” text!
North of Center: Someday is Today: Burris Exhibit Engages Politics and Social Justice by Amber Scott
“Burris has a knack for pointing out the obvious. His work generates power in part through its ability to highlight things we all live among yet at the same time are ignorant of. Through his swindly text and drawings, he crafts a picture of contemporary life, some of it so based in fiction that it is penetratingly real.
Take for instance the Lonely Mountain Community Center, a bulletin board covered in fliers announcing Stoner Creek Boys performances, the start of a meth support group, memorial services for legend-in-his-day (this day being over 30 years ago) local basketball star Summer “Time” McNeese. One particularly poignant notice says, “Feeling unsafe? Call 911.” The 911 is scratched through and underneath it someone has pointed out what being forgotten feels like:We don’t have 911 jerk.”
Ace Weekly: Kate Sprengnether previews Bruce Burris’ Institute 193 Show by Kate Sprengnether
“Phillip Jones says of Bruce that he “is, to my knowledge, the only contemporary artist dealing with mountaintop removal, rural- Southern community dynamics and the tremendous importance of activism in function of these movements. These issues have traditionally been treated as geographicallyspecific concerns but are increasingly viewed as essential aspects of the larger ‘green movement.’ Burris is working with this material as an interested observer, employing an established aesthetic to further these broadening conversations visually and intellectually.” Bruce and Phillip have worked together on “several different projects over the past few years. Bruce was an early contributor to the JONES SHOP, an experimental shop/installation based in Lexington that traveled to the Edlin Gallery in NYC and will continue to function as a pop-up installation in other cities.”
Institute 193 is pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition of work by Mare Vaccaro entitled: Multiple Personalities. The exhibition features Vaccaro’s photographs, video, embellished collars and select pieces of sculpture. Multiple Personalities opens March 4, 2010 at 6 PM. For more information about Vaccaro’s work see: www.marevaccarostudio.com.
Institute 193 announces the release of Louis Zoellar Bickett II’s artist edition created in conjunction with the show entitled: Selections from the Archive. This work was produced in an edition of 15 examples and 2 artist proofs. Each edition contains a vile of dirt gathered at Auschwitz-Birkenau, an archival cover sheet signed by the artist, and a card signed with the edition number. The edition is packaged in a plastic file folder. All artist editions are 99 dollars and can be purchased directly through the Institute. Please contact: phillip@institute193.org for purchasing information. For installation views of Bickett’s show at Institute 193 see: http://www.institute193.org/index.php?/project/louis-zoellar-bickett-ii/
Installation view of We Will Someday, Someday We Will at Institute 193 (taken from exterior window)
Eric Sutherland of the Holler Poet Series in Lexington performed 3 different pieces at the opening of We Will Someday… Over 300 people attended the opening. Sutherland’s performance pieces were intentionally staged in front of Burris’ installation of the Lonely Mountain Community Center Bulletin Board which draws on the same material base. This is hopefully the first of many collaborations to be held in cooperation with the Holler Poets. Thanks again, Eric.
Bruce Burris is the FEATURED article in WHITEHOT MAGAZINE this week. The article includes a brief introduction and slightly informal interview with the artist and is accompanied by 4 images from his current show at Institute 193. Lexington is also being featured as a WHITEHOT city in the company of London, Paris, New York, Berlin, etc. Please read the article and share it with EVERYONE. Lexington needs this kind of attention and so do its artists, institutions, curators, galleries and the list goes on and on.
The Bulletin Board Cafe has been open for slightly more than 3 weeks, and I thought that it would interesting for those of you living outside of Lexington to see what kinds of things have been left on the board. The intent of the project was to encourage immediate local dialogue about any event, activity, interest, project, business, etc. occurring within the community. It was not intended to serve any particular group but its incarnation as a temporary installation within the confines of a contemporary arts space has created a perhaps inevitable dynamic. The board has primarily served as a physical space for visual artists to come and post things they are working on and to receive feedback (critique and praise) about their most recent efforts. It demonstrates a need for physical exhibition space in the Downtown Lexington area – and perhaps more significantly – a need for critical dialogue concerning local working artists. There is a tremendous need for critical debate, writing and scholarship and this temporary public space visually attests to that need. The Bulletin Board Cafe will be open through January 9, and I encourage anyone within 100 miles of Lexington, Kentucky to make the drive to post something on the board and have an ALE-8-ONE while you’re here. The images on this post were selected at random and are presented anonymously.
Bruce Burris’ show entitled We Will Someday Someday We Will opens on January 14, 2010 at Institute 193 in Lexington, Kentucky. The opening will be from 6 – 9 PM and will feature a performance by local performance artist, Eric Sutherland, at 7:30. Click on the image to see more of Burris’ recent work.
Burris is, to my knowledge, the only contemporary artist dealing with mountaintop removal, rural-Southern community dynamics and the tremendous importance of activism in function of these movements. These issues have traditionally been treated as geographically-specific concerns but are increasingly viewed as essential aspects of the larger “green movement.” Burris, a native of Delaware, is working with this material as an interested observer, employing an established aesthetic to further these broadening conversations visually and intellectually. The following images are installation views of Burris’ recent work entitled: Lonely Mountain Community Center. The piece is a working model of a bulletin board that addresses the complex challenges facing members of rural-Southern communities while praising their activist and community-driven efforts.
LONELY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CENTER BULLETIN BOARD
LONELY MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY CENTER BULLETIN BOARD DETAIL
Institute 193 is a non-profit contemporary art space dedicated to enriching the cultural landscape of the Lexington area by exhibiting emerging and mid-career professional artists from the Southern region of the United States. Learn more...
