New Series of Exhibitions to Open at Bradbury Art Museum
JONESBORO – The Bradbury Art Museum at Arkansas State University opens to the public with a 5-6:30 p.m. reception on Thursday, Aug. 25, featuring a new series of exhibitions and a brand new look.
This group of shows features portraiture by four artists: Delita Martin, Nina Katchadourian, Tad Lauritzen Wright and Andrew Kilgore.
Night Women: Delita Martin
Three of the galleries are devoted to work by Houston-based artist Delita Martin. Two collections of her powerful, large-scale portraits of women of color are on view in the entry and main galleries. These multi-layered mixed media works command one's attention from afar but up close reveal intricate detailing.
They combine printmaking, drawing, painting, collage, stitching and the application of found objects to create portraits of various women in her community. On view are examples from “I Walked on Water to my Homeland” and her recent series, ”Night Women.”
In the Kays Gallery Martin will exhibit an installation titled ”Dinner Table.” According to the artist, this is a new direction for her and a nod to feminist artist Judy Chicago’s seminal work, “Dinner Party.”
Martin states, “The project is about the exploration of sisterhood among women of color. Through a series of hand-drawn portraits on plates, I have created a space, a dining room, historically thought of as a domestic space or a woman’s domain and changed it to a place of prayer, where women can bond, tell stories, solve problems and lift each other up. I believe installation brings an extra dimension in how people connect to the art. Connection and interaction are at the core of all my artwork. I am fascinated with the idea of the viewer being able to connect to a culture and people that may be unfamiliar to them.”
At 6 p.m. during the reception, Martin will provide a public talk about her work in the exhibition.
Seat Assignment: Nina Katchadourian
Also on view are examples from internationally acclaimed artist Nina Katchadourian’s improvisational and humorous series "Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style” from her project entitled "Seat Assignment." This ongoing project was created with only a hand-held camera phone, in airplane bathrooms while in flight.
Her self-portraits, reminiscent of traditional 15th-century Flemish portraiture, are composed solely from the clothing she is wearing at the time and the supplies available such as seat covers, toilet tissue, and hand towels. Her hilarious video, “In a Room Full of Strangers” from the same series will be featured along with her photographic images.
Continual Myth: Tad Lauritzen Wright
The work of Tad Lauritzen Wright can be seen in his exhibition titled “Continual Myth.” His child-like line drawings depict a whimsical rendition of ancient mythological characters from Aphrodite and Eros to Hades and Persephone. He states, “I take basic ideas, simple plans, and rigorous daydreaming to an extreme in the work, always attempting to elevate my ideas and observations.”
Later this semester Lauritzen Wright will provide a public talk in the Bradbury Art Museum about his imaginative, thoughtful and amusing work. He has shown extensively throughout the country and is represented locally by the David Lusk Gallery in Memphis.
Arkansas Neighbors: Work from the Permanent Collection
The final exhibition in this series are selections from the A-State Permanent Collection of Art. This set of black and white photographs by Arkansas artist Andrew Kilgore come from a large collection titled, “Fayetteville Townfolk” named after the city where the subjects resided at the time.
Most images are accompanied by brief interviews with the subject and were taken between 1976 and 1981. Although four decades have passed since the inception of their creation, the images seem timeless and could easily be confused to be present-day portraits.
Museum Schedule
The exhibitions run through Oct. 9 at Bradbury Art Museum, which is in Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Dr. BAM hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and by appointment. The exhibition, the reception and the artist’s talks are admission-free and open to the public. For additional information please contact the museum at (870) 972-2567.
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