Panel Discussion for "Fellows Converge: Broadly Thinking." Wednesday, July 13th, 7:00pm

Hamiltonian Fellows and mentor artist Zoe Charlton share their experiences collaborating and examining each others artistic practices for the exhibition : Fellows Converge:  Broadly Thinking.  on view June 25 - August 6, 2011

Panel discussion with the artists 
Wednesday, July 13th, at 7:00 pm,

Artists:  Selin Balci, Jon Bobby Benjamin, Ryan Hoover, Magnolia Laurie, Joyce Y-J Lee, Katherine Mann, Jonathan Monaghan, Jessica van Brakle, Lina Vargas De La Hoz, and Elena Volkova.  

Each Spring, Hamiltonian Gallery culminates its year of exhibitions by selecting an established artist to curate a group show that will include all of the Hamiltonian Fellows.  This year, they selected Zoë Charlton.  Known for her figurative drawings and videos, Zoë Charlton mentored all ten Hamiltonian Fellows to create a compelling, collaborative exhibition.  

Fellows Converge:  Broadly Thinking
As written by Zoë Charlton:

In developing the exhibition Broadly Thinking with this group of Hamiltonian Fellows, I was interested in considering the networks that can support our practice as artists outside the comfort zone of art school.  When there is so much pressure placed on originality, how can we cultivate an environment that encourages emerging artists to critically engage with their peers?

Inviting each artist to investigate the work of two other Fellows was not about encouraging superficial connections in style or the adoption of someone else's medium. Instead, the exercise involved a process of self-assessment and comparative analysis that made it possible for the artists to appreciate each other's struggles with materials and ideas and to understand  how resistance and acceptance affect the outcome of their own art-making. 

As written by Hamiltonian Fellow, Magnolia Laurie:

In looking for a link between Ryan Hoover's and Jessica van Brakle's work, I kept thinking about a sort of distancing that happens.  What you see is not necessarily the content behind the work, but rather a sort of façade which contains or obliterates. That façade, in some ways, also functions as the content.  Within my own work, I had already been thinking that I needed to challenge and question my more familiar sense of composition and to expand upon the aesthetics of the mark.  So I started to work with the idea that aesthetics can function as a sort of barrier.

Hamiltonian Gallery
Hamiltonian Artists
1353 U Street, NW
Suite 101
Washington, DC  20009
202.332.1116
www.hamiltonianartists.org
www.hamiltoniangallery.com