FALL SOLOS Sneak Peek: Exploring the Body
Oil on canvas, 54 x 36 in.
There’s no denying the appeal of deliberately unsettling yourself—you can control your fear, and maybe even discover something you didn’t know about yourself. The work of Stephanie Williams takes advantage of the tension between what we understand and what we don’t, and her FALL SOLOS exhibition promises to be an excellent chaser to the spooky month of October.
Currently at James Madison University as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Foundations for the 2013-2014 academic year, and a summer camp instructor here at AAC, Stephanie Williams has some interesting questions for you to ponder.
For instance, how comfortable are you with your body? If you haven’t given much thought to the flesh you walk around in, this exhibition will spark your mind and get you thinking. If you spend a lot of time with the “implications of body,” as Williams puts it, then her work will give your inquiry a new life.
Mark Jenkins at the Washington Post described her work as suggestive of a “less turbulent Francis Bacon,” and the comparison to the provocative British painter is a useful one; the work of both artists is rooted in a desire to understand subjective realities. But where Bacon approached the conversation with intense passion, Williams tends to be more exploratory, more analytical in her inquiries.
Polyester, 3 x 6 x 3 ft.
In this spirit, part of the exhibition includes drawings that will evolve during the run of the show. You and other viewers are welcome to add your marks to the drawing table or one of the blank pieces of paper on the wall. Later these marks will be reconfigured by Williams to reflect this evolution.
Williams also has her work on display at the Wriston Art Center in Wisconsin through November 27, but you can see her exhibition here until December 22. Don’t miss out on the chance to see a solo show by this smart and insightful young artist!
You’ll have the chance to meet her during our opening reception for FALL SOLOS 2013 on November 2 tomorrow night! Held here in the Arlington Arts Center at 6 pm, the reception will have food and drinks on the main level along with open studios upstairs.
In addition, Resident Artist Katie Lynch Thibault will be opening her solo show Airfoil in the Wyatt Resident Artists Gallery in conjunction with FALL SOLOS. Meet Thibault and the other resident artists of AAC in their studios to see what they’ve been working on all year!
-Written by Cody Vander Clute, AAC’s Curatorial & Exhibitions Intern
