Archive for March, 2010

One Nail Gallery opens tomorrow @ Latitude Artist Community

Institute 193 and Latitude Artist Community are pleased to announce a new initiative, One Nail Gallery at Latitude’s studio space on Saunier Street in Lexington. Institute 193 will select individual artists to display their work, using a single nail, on a dedicated wall. The program aims to create a dialogue amongst regional contemporary artists and the artists at Latitude. Exhibiting artists will give a short talk and spend a day at Latitude. The exchange will hopefully impact the work of everyone involved creating a deliberate bridge between Latitude Artist Community and the regional art community . One Nail Gallery exhibitions will last 4 – 6 weeks and will be documented on the Institute’s website and a book will be published at the end of the first year of programming. For more information, email: info@institute193.org.

Travis Shaffer
Central Christian Church
Henderson, NV
Digital C-Print
40″ x 40″

One Nail Gallery’s first project features the artwork of Travis Shaffer. Shaffer will be installing a digital C-print from his series, Eleven Mega-Churches. According to the artist, “This work is interested in issues of access and diversity; land-use, suburban infrastructure, the automobile and it’s environmental impact; and the formation of isolated communal brands. It seeks to coax its audience into open dialogue about the impact of the church as a building and an institution upon our world, along with differences between its implied and actual purposes and responsibilities. As one views these works, gathered using stitched Google Satellite imagery, there is an obvious repetition of sprawling parking lots, coupled with cul-de-sac laden homogeneous housing developments and swimming pools, all icons of a distinctly American and more distinctly middle class ex-urban/suburban landscape.” For more information about Shaffer’s work, including sales and exhibitions, contact: phillip@institute193.org.

One Nail Gallery is generously funded by our friends at Third Street Coffee in Lexington, Kentucky. Third Street Coffee has been a tireless supporter of both Latitude and Institute 193. Proceeds from the sale of artwork support Institute 193 and Latitude Artist Community.

Guy Mendes and Thornton Dial Sr.

This short video shows Guy Mendes photographing the artist, Thornton Dial outside of his studio in Bessemer, Alabama. Mendes is a photographer who has collaborated with Institute 193 on several projects. He is from New Orleans but has lived in Lexington for over 40 years. The Institute is planning a book and major exhibition of Mendes’ portraits in conjunction with the Ann Tower Gallery later this year. The resulting photos from the day are shown below:

Mare Vaccaro: The Painted Lady (excerpt)

The Painted Lady is a short film installation by Mare Vaccaro. The artist is depicted “painting” herself into character, ready to face the outside world. The entire process takes 21 minutes and 30 seconds. This five-minute excerpt is being disseminated publicly at the request of the artist. The full video is shown embedded in a gilded mirror that is hung on the wall. The Painted Lady was exhibited in conjunction with Mare Vaccaro: Mulitple Personalities at Institute 193. For more information, please write: info@institute193.org.

All That Glitters… The Art of Robert Morgan

Institute 193 is pleased to announce the opening of All That Glitters…. on April 15, 2010 at 6 PM. For more information about the exhibition and Morgan’s work, read on.

Institute 193 and Robert Morgan were recently awarded an EcoGrant by LFUCG to conduct a series of educational workshops aimed at exposing the public to the possibilities of recycling as a method of art-making. Morgan works with junk and found objects, assembling them into speaking cultural artifacts shaped by the artist’s Catholic childhood, previous drug addiction and the AIDS epidemic of the 90’s. His work addresses the concept of recycling both physically and conceptually. Through a process of collection and assemblage, Morgan is able to transform hair brushes, children’s toys, old radios and other various discarded objects into works of art that speak to the life experiences of the artist and the former lives and stories embodied by the objects themselves. The recycling of objects, photos, memories, and experience makes Morgan’s work engaging to people of all ages and education levels. Morgan is a Lexington-based artist whose family goes back to the early pioneers of central Kentucky and the mountains of Appalachia. This project serves as a formal introduction of Morgan’s work to the larger-community of schools, community centers and art enthusiasts.

Mare Vaccaro: Multiple Personalities Installation

Mare Vaccaro: Multiple Personalities opened on March 4 at Institute 193.

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.