Artist, Dana Hargrove
There is a lot happening this month at and through the Asheville Area Arts Council (AAAC). First up, two separate exhibitions.
In the Main Gallery is a show titled “A thing re | sembling a window,” curated by Dawn Roe. It places in conversation the practices of six local and national artists. Their new and re-imagined works were in response to the ongoing public art project, “Window (re/production | re/presentation),” which Dawn founded in the storefront window of Henco Reprographics in the spring of 2013.
Works will include sculptural fabrications, analog photographic processes, painting studies, screen and digital prints, and archive audio works, as well as performance. Dawn will host a curator’s insight talk from 6–7:30 P.M. on Thursday, June 9 at the AAAC Gallery.
Artists included in this exhibition are Bridget Conn, Ursula Gullow, and Anna Hagelson, all from Asheville, McLean Fahnestock (Tennessee), Dana Hargrove (Florida), and Leigh-Ann Pahapill (Ohio and Ontario, Canada).
Artist, Bridget Conn
In the Artist Resource Center Gallery, Jenny Bowen, an assemblage artist, photographer, and lifelong Asheville resident, presents “Antecedents—The Nature of Yesterday.” She is perhaps best known for her 2009 photo documentary project, “Faces of Asheville.” In the years since, she has focused on detailed assemblages utilizing scavenged metal.
Jenny’s new exhibit features a mélange of characters in photographs whose voices come from past eras (circa 1860–1960). The photographs are an integral part of the pieces, which include a diverse mixture of leaves, nuts, bark, shells, and stones. Her canvases range from urban driftwood and farm lumber to sidings of historic homesteads. Jenny’s exhibit brings into focus the point where cultural worship of nature and ancestors converge.
Opening receptions for both exhibitions will be held from 5–8 P.M. on Friday, June 3, at the AAAC Gallery.
The AAAC will open to the public its new production arts facility, The Refinery, located at 207 Coxe Avenue. A networking “mix and mingle” event will be from 7–10 P.M. on Thursday, June 16. This is a donation-based event, and all are invited to celebrate the new creative community space.
On Saturday, June 18, at The Refinery, the AAAC will hold its Design & Marketing Symposium, a one-day intensive workshop that will cover image manipulation, branding, reaching target markets, creating marketing materials, and other topics.
For more information, visit ashevillearts.com. The Asheville Area Arts Council Gallery is located at 1 Page Avenue, #143A, in downtown Asheville.
