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As of Sept. 2, 2011
An Exhibition Featuring Amze Emmons, Imminent Disaster, Greg Haberny, Chris Stain and Ben Wolf
August 31 to November 3, 2012
Opening Reception: 6 to 9 PM, Friday, September 28
Throughout history, writers, painters, sculptors, photographers and others have used their artistry to raise political awareness and consciousness. The creative expression of ideas, emotions and images has been a powerful force in creating societal change as well as producing strong and memorable art. In honor of the 2012 Democratic National Convention taking place in Charlotte, NC, from September 3 to 6, 2012, McColl Center for Visual Art presents an exhibition of five contemporary artists who live and work in America. They work on a grand scale, often in the form of site-specific installations, to address our tumultuous world. They travel, research current affairs and archives, in addition to other information available to them in order to adapt their work to their changing environments. Each artist, in his or her own way, aspires to deepen our understanding of world events and inspire compassion and action in the contemporary political arena.
Amze Emmons will create an installation based on a new series of drawings and prints. He uses current news, archives, media images and phrases to express the displacement and strife of our times. Car bombings, refugee migrations, floods and the like become his subject matter. Through editing existing images and adding original drawings and collages, he moves beyond the individual newsworthy item by making visual connections of seemingly disparate events. Imminent Disaster, aka Robyn Hasty, will create a large-scale sculpture, perhaps kinetic. Printmaker, photographer, sculptor and writer, twenty-six-year-old Robyn adapts her work to the changing environments of her travels and adventures. From building floating sculptures in the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia to designing and building a traditional house in Ghana, Robyn lives her life as art, as she creates projects that both challenge and inform. Greg Haberny will incorporate sculpted clay and other media in a three-dimensional installation in the gallery. As a student of art, filmmaking and photography, Greg's goal is to transform a space into an environment that is his own and evokes excitement. Chris Stain will create a mural to address inner city life and the working-class neighborhood. Inspired by the graffiti movement that exploded throughout American neighborhoods in the 1980s, he uses printmaking and stencils to capture the everyday lives and struggles of ordinary Americans. Ben Wolf uses what he calls a "decadence of abandonment" for his site-specific installations. These found materials from the area include rusted metal, rotten boards, peeling paint, ect. They are organized into abstract forms that invite interpretation. At the Center, Ben will be shaping collected materials in his gallery installation, in an overall critique of the current state of the world.
An Exhibition Featuring the Work of Randy Shull
November 16, 2012 - January 12, 2013
Opening Reception: 6 to 9 PM, Friday, November 16
The exhibition is curated by Janet Koplos, a former editor of Art in America magazine. It will include artist Randy Shull, whose work addresses the role that the United States plays on a global level.