#FirstFriday: Must-See February Exhibitions
February 2, 2023Every month, we highlight exhibitions, group shows, events, and workshops that feature WSW artists, we share the shows near and far that make up our monthly must-see list.
New York
8.75 x 4.5 x 8.25, 2023
Maya Beverly (Right Now! Production Grant Recipient ’20) will have work in the group show Molded. Opening on February 2nd, Molded is a collaborative exhibition, curated by Good Black Art and TRNK NYC, and features artists Ambrose Rhapsody Murray, Maya Beverly, Hamzat Raheem, and Yves Craft. The show is “a group exhibition that celebrates materials and traditions that have shaped Black culture”. Molded will be in the TRNK NYC showroom at 18 Jay St, New York, NY and will be open Tuesday – Friday, 11 am – 6 pm EST between February 2-28.
Homespun, an exhibition at The Dorsky Museum in New Paltz, will feature work by Padma Rajendran (Ora Schneider Regional Residency Grant ’18). There will be an opening reception on February 4 from 5-7 pm, and the show will be up from February 4 – April 2.
“Homespun brings together nineteen artists in the Hudson Valley who work primarily with fabric and fiber. The exhibition features a wide variety of materials and techniques, including sewing, weaving, needlework, quilting, collaging, dyeing, and tufting. While each artist has a unique approach to their chosen medium, several distinct themes run through the exhibition, including the representation of women’s issues, the history of craft and fiber art, cultural heritage, and the environment.”
Beth Fein (Studio Workspace Resident, 17) has a Solo Show called What Shapes Us which will be on view through Criss Collaboration’s website through February 28.
Pennsylvania
Symone Salib’s (Public Art Mural Grant ’20) piece, “Unshakeable” will be featured in the exhibit To Whom do I Owe the Power behind my Voice? at the Commonweal Gallery, in Philadelphia, 1607 Latimer Street Philadelphia, PA 19103. The exhibition will be up through February 18.
Symone speaks about the piece, saying that ““Unshakeable” is visually inspired by old Egyptian movie posters from the 60’s and 70’s that are full of bright colors, distinct typography and iconic portraiture. The background of the piece includes a custom tile I created inspired by the celosia flower, which is given to people as symbol of boldness. The piece was created as a way to reclaim all the ways I have been surrounded by the loudness of volatile men in my life and family who have used their voices as a tool to silence. It’s about resilience and choosing to use my voice and my volume as a way to amplify the voices of others through art.”
Georgia
The exhibit When Paper Meets Print, features WSW Alumnx Gretchen Schermerhorn (Studio Residency Residency ’09), Kelly Taylor Mitchell (Studio Workspace Residency ’21), and Melissa Harshman (Studio Workspace Residency ’98). The show is at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, at 500 Tenth St. NW, Atlanta GA. In addition to the exhibition, Kelly Taylor Mitchell and Melissa Harshman will be giving a virtual artist talk on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, 8-9 pm.
Melissa Harshman and Kelly Taylor Mitchell will also be teaching workshops in conjunction with the exhibition. Free Form Pulp Painting Multiples with Melissa Harshman will be on Saturday, February 25, 2023 from 10 am-2 pm. It will be a fun day of free-form pulp painting using overbeaten abaca fiber. The pigmented pulp will be used to create line drawings and other shapes without the use of backing paper. Register here!
Paper Assemblage with Kelly Taylor Mitchell will take place on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 7-9 pm. Students will learn how to join paper elements together using a variety of techniques to create large paper assemblages. Stitching, adding mixed media, and joining with rivets are just a few techniques that will be explored. Register here! Please email [email protected] if you have questions or want more information about either of these workshops.
Wisconsin
Natalie Woodlock (Studio Residency Grant ’22) is a current resident at The Peninsula School of Arts, and will be participating in their open studios on February 21 from 4-6 pm. Stop by to enjoy a rare look behind the scenes, meet the artists in person, explore what they have been working on during their session, and ask questions. This event is free and open to all.
Andrea Chung (Studio Residency Grant ’16) has a solo show entitled Andrea Chung: if they put an iron circle around your neck I will bite it away which will be open through October 1st at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 608 New York Ave Sheboygan, WI 53081.
“In a new multiroom installation, artist Andrea Chung confronts the legacy and trauma of slavery from the perspective of an Afrofuturist utopia. For this work, Chung activates the possibility of a new world, a “Black Atlantis” called Drexciya, to subvert the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. Drexciya is an underwater world populated by the amphibious offspring of women thrown from slave ships during the Middle Passage. It was conceived by the eponymous and enigmatic electronic music duo active in Detroit in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Chung’s installation is a meditation on the laws of Black physics. It highlights the ways Black people relate and respond to time and space in order to navigate a world full of dangerous and harmful systems. Within her evocation of this watery realm we can inhabit imagined pasts, presents, and futures to craft alternative realities forged by liberation, adaptation, resilience, defiance, and survival.”
Maine
Erin Woodbrey (Studio Intern ’07) has work in the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Biennial Group Exhibition. The exhibition will be open through May 7 2023 at 21 Winter Street Rockland, ME 04841.