Deborah Boardma, Shannon Brickey, Mary Ellen Carroll, Lisa Erf, Matthew Groshek, Anna Horvath,, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Lys Martin, Darrel Morris, John Ploof, Joe Scanlon, Gail Simpson, Irene Tsatsos, Jon Vincent, and Pam Whynott.
Featured Artists
Curated by John Pakosta, Beneath the Skin brought together 15 artists who challenged traditional notions of vulnerability. Artists chose to work with different concepts related to vulnerability that included susceptibility, temptation, criticism and harm . The exhibition included painting, photography, sculpture and evening performances.
Artist Joe Scanlon‘s piece Always Being Near an Ocean Always Makes You Better Off used an outline map of the United States with seaport cities delineated to address the idea of location as a sense of vulnerability. A mixed media piece titled the Only Known Contemporary Portrait of Joan of Arc by Irene Tsatsos juxtaposed a black and white enlargement with a hazy color photograph of a women runner.
Another mixed media artist, Shannon Brickey collaged together images of the interior of the body. Her piece titled Kidney was an image of a human kidney with tiny paper cutout’s of liquor bottles, and foods. Her second piece, a collaged human heart, was constructed out of magazine images of tire treads and valves. Photographer Lys Martin combined photography and text to create images of people and buildings collaged together. Artist Deborah Boardman presented large scale prints of body parts surrounded by a red center on which slides were superimposed.
Pamela Whynott exhibited a sculptural piece that incorporated painted glass bottles, with openings that revealed miniature forms. Inigo Manglano-Ovalle‘s Within Earshot displayed four photographs of immigration and naturalization registration certificates that included instructions for the viewer. Painter John Vincent presented two oil paintings titled Silent Casey and Silent Kate.
Daniel Morris‘ small scale needlepoint images created pattern from figurative forms. His Shoe Salesman combined the stitching of plaids, strips and curly hair. Matthew Grishek displayed text paintings that used words that defined people such as baby sitter, escort, and sugar daddy. Grishek also used text that described what people could become, such as captive, opponent, and slave. Artists Gail Simpson and John Ploof worked with found objects to tackle the theme of vulnerability. Simpson’s bed of found nails and Ploof’s mixed media piece Blind Gift used disparate objects to create an assemblage that challenged conventional perceptions of an inviting art object while Anna Horwarth created a variety of shapes in her pristine wood construction pieces.
