Opening reception for two new contemporary art exhibitions at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Artist Lecture by Christina A. West at 6pm // Reception to follow
Light refreshments provided
Exhibitions //
Christina A. West: UnScene
Quentin Morris
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CHRISTINA A. WEST: UNSCENE
AUG 26 – DEC 14
Atlanta based artist, Christina A. West, creates immersive, site-specific installations that utilize figurative sculptures and the alteration of space to create psychologically charged environments. West’s figures, which the artist distorts through an adjustment of scale and proportion, are found sitting, standing, kneeling, and crawling. The monochromatic figures, and their relationship to the fabricated interiors in which they reside, provoke subtle feelings of visual and spatial discomfort.
Building on her previous work, West’s AEIVA installation, Unscene, emphasizes the ambiguous space between—between narrative moments, between past and present, between actor and audience. The scene presented is pulled apart with the use of fragmentation, scale shifts, the integration of photography, and strategies that direct viewers through the space.
QUENTIN MORRIS
AUG 26 – OCT 12
Philadelphia-based artist Quentin Morris uses a variety of materials to explore issues surrounding identity, race, spirituality, and cultural mythologies. The integration of schools in Philadelphia impacted Morris as an adolescent and still influences his work today. Morris has focused his studio practice on monochromatic black paintings in the shapes of circles and squares since the early 1960s. Morris’ AEIVA exhibition features a selection of paintings that span five decades of the artist’s career.
Through his paintings, Morris is able to process his ideas on race, ethnicity, and culture, while at the same time constructing a social commentary on the Civil Rights Movement. Morris wants the viewer to take an intense look into his deceptively simple paintings – understanding that the color black is both beautiful and complex. This will be Quentin Morris’ first major exhibition in the South.
Event Photo //
Christina A. West
Unscene (detail)
2019
Mixed media installation
Courtesy of the artist
Free and open to the public
Phone: 205-975-6436
Email: aeiva@uab.edu
2019/09/07 - 2019/09/07
Additional time info:
Lecture by Christina A. West at 6pm // Reception to follow
UAB Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA)
1221 10th Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 36294