TWIST - LAYER - POUR
Sondra N. Arkin + Joan Belmar + Mary Early
September 5 - October 22, 2017
Opening Reception
Saturday, September 9, 2017, 6-9 PM
Gallery Talk with the Artists & Sarah Tanguy, Curator
Thursday, September 28, 6-7:30pm
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
In Twist – Layer – Pour, the unexpected grouping of Sondra N. Arkin, Joan Belmar and Mary Early yields a dynamic, site-responsive meditation on systemized components and accumulated wholes. Step by step, link by link, their obsessive object-making becomes a metaphor for conscious and intuitive gesture, relational interconnectivity, and the passage of time.
At once public and private, monumental and intimate, the works profess an unswerving passion for their chosen materials: steel wire, synthetic papers, and beeswax. Individual variances and details invite close attention while, in the aggregate, distilled shapes and rhythmic patterns emerge. Whether the viewer roams among the works or stands still, the artwork expands, surrounds and cascades all around.
Together the installations create a kaleidoscope of contrasting perspectives and engage all aspects of their architectural setting—floor, ceiling, and wall, be it double or single height, curved, straight, or glass. The flow of air and the play of light further complicate the interaction between actual and implied motion. From humble materials, and from individual units, the artists create a new way of experiencing the space.
Exhibition catalogue available.
The American University Museum
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20016
www.american.edu/museum
(202) 885-1300
Museum Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11am - 4pm
Parking available under the Katzen Arts Center and is free after 5pm and on weekends.
Image: Mary Early, Untitled [Curve], 2017, beeswax, dimensions variable (detail)
