We Dream | Beauty Beyond and Beneath

September 7 – October 27, 2017

Image: Robert Lewis, Byzantium, Metal, wood and plaster, 80 x 24 x 24 inches, 2014.

We Dream | Beauty Beyond and Beneath

September 7 – October 27, 2017
Opening reception: Thursday, September 14, 5:30 -7:30p.m.
Gallery talk with artists and curator Deborah Davidson 4:30p.m.

Across the centuries, philosophers, poets, scientists, and mathematicians have meditated on the nature and power of beauty.   Some have said beauty calls on us to educate ourselves; others have said it is a call to repair the injuries of the world.

Elaine Scarry

This exhibit brings together artists from many disciplines who all share an interest in the notion of beauty, sometimes terrifying, sometimes in the face of the grotesque, often dreamlike; tapping into what lies beyond or beneath what is visible.

Artists are conjurers, making evident and manifest what they see. The works range from paintings of surprising objects, to photographs which channel seventeenth century still lifes, to overwrought sculptural objects that are infused with baroque longing. Part of the exhibition also includes an interactive Camera Obscura space.

Artist/Conjurers

Emily Eveleth
Jesseca Ferguson
Sean Foley
Masako Kamiya
Robert Lewis
Shelley Reed
Tara Sellios
Matt Saunders
Jane Smaldone
Bill Thompson
Tabitha Vevers

Programming:

Thursday, September 14, 4:30 pm 
Opening Event and Gallery Talk
Artists and curator Deborah Davidson

Tuesday, September 19, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Exquisite Corpse Drawing Game
Organized by Gallery Ambassador Shelby Feltoon
Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from the original French term cadavre exquis) or rotating corpse, is a method by which a group of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see only the very end from the previous contributor. Join in for a fun way to create a drawing. No experience necessary!

Tuesday, October 10, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Professor Gary Fireman in conversation with artist Robert Lewis
Psychologist and researcher Gary Fireman will discuss a range of topics: why dreaming is important to creativity, how dreams serve the purpose of consolidating memories and processing emotion, how narratives embedded in memory get disrupted. His conversation with participating artist, Robert Lewis will be in response to some of these ideas by way of looking at the work, and seeing the connection between the sculptures and the ideas they embody and embrace.

Tuesday October 17, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
William Blake: At The Nexus of Beauty and Dreaming
Professor and Art historian Charles Cramer will examine English poet and painter, William Blake’s non-perceptual approach to achieving ideal beauty through dreams and other inward forms of vision.

Tuesday, October 24, 7:00 pm
Movie Night In The Gallery!
Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo de Toro
Pan’s Labyrinth is a 2006 dark fantasy film written and directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The story takes place in Spain in May–June 1944, five years after the Spanish Civil War, during the early Francoist period. The narrative of the film intertwines this real world with a mythical world centered on an overgrown abandoned labyrinth and a mysterious faun creature, with whom the main character, Ofelia, interacts. Ofelia’s stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, hunts the Spanish Maquis who fight against the Francoist regime in the region, while Ofelia’s pregnant mother Carmen grows increasingly ill. Ofelia meets several strange and magical creatures who become central to her story, leading her through the trials of the old labyrinth garden. The film employs make-up, animatronics, and CGI effects to bring life to its creatures. Del Toro stated that he considers the story to be a parable, influenced by fairy tales.

Ongoing in the Gallery:

Slow Looking
Observe one work in the exhibit, respond and write about it. What’s going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can we find?

Camera Obscura Experience
Part of the gallery is transformed into a “camera”. Visitors are encouraged to take photographs, make drawings and post on Facebook and Instagram.