Splendor and Chaos, an installation by Anna Kenar
“Splendor and Chaos is directly derived from a series of woodcuts I created in 2019, titled I carry this Splendor, this Chaos. The original series of hand printed woodcuts was inspired by nature, medical texts, surgical and sonographic images, and addresses the physical and emotional realm of damage and pain associated with endometriosis. The Splendor and Chaos installation consolidates the ideas drawn from those woodcuts. That of symmetry, order, nature, body, combined with those of turmoil, tension, power and violence. This installation, Splendor and Chaos, was created as a site-specific graphic installation; it transforms Storrs Gallery into an environment that both enhances self-awareness, and encourages reflection and observation.”
Past Exhibitions
Spring 2020
Palimpsest: Ceramic Works by Carlos Estévez
January 13 – March 27
Receptions: February 20, 6:00-8:00 pm; February 21, 12:30-1:30 pm
Cuban-American artist Carlos Estévez is known for his draftsman style and focus on surrealistic subjects. Many of his works visually reference architectural studies and mechanical diagrams. This exhibition is a culmination of three ceramic series Estévez produced between 2016-2018. Two series were produced by Estévez during a residency at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation in 2016. The collective body of work focuses on the relationship between visual art and literature. Each installation is inspired by a celebrated Hispanic writer. Bestiary, consisting of 19 ceramic platters, was inspired by Dulce María Loynaz (1902-1997), a Cuban poet whose works are often considered precursors to magical realism in literature. Domestic Zoology, a dinnerware set for 12 people, was inspired by the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), whose works are known for their dreamlike subjects and complex symbolism. The third installation, consisting of 11 plates, was a collaboration between Estévez and Antonio Orlando Rodríguez, a contemporary Cuban fiction writer who recently won the renowned Alfaguara Prize.
A recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, the Cintas Foundation Fellowship in Visual Arts, and the Grand Prize in the First Salon of Contemporary Cuban Art in Havana, Carlos Estévez was born and raised in Cuba and moved to Miami in 2004, where he lives and works.
Fall 2019
Micah Cash: Waffle House Vistas
August 8 – September 20
Waffle House Vistas focuses on the built environment as seen through the windows of Waffle House restaurants from across the southeastern United States. Charlotte photographer Micah Cash visited 60 restaurants in nine states and documented the surrounding landscape and architecture as a way to ask questions about our society and our social, economic, and political divisions. His photographs ask viewers to look up from their hash browns and acknowledge the institutions and structures that create real, yet rarely acknowledged boundaries that feel impossible to break through for many in this country.
Global Studies Exhibition 2019
October 1-9
Students in the College of Arts + Architecture reflect on their 2019 study abroad experiences through sketches, notes, analytical diagrams, photographs, collages, measured drawings, videos, installations, and more.
Alice Gosti: Material Deviance in Contemporary American Culture
October 14 – November 15
Performances: October 17 & 18, 6-8 pm
Material Deviance in Contemporary American Culture takes a sideways look at our object-based reality. Reflecting stuff-centered culture back to ourselves, this dream state passes through shame, nostalgia, patriotism, and the weight of inheritance. Choreographer and hybrid performance artist Alice Gosti asks, Do objects imbued with so much of our worth start to take over and take on a life of their own?
Gosti is an Italian-American choreographer and performance artist based in Seattle and Italy. In 2016 she received the prestigious National Dance Project from the New England Foundation for the Arts for the production and touring of Material Deviance in Contemporary American Culture.
The presentation of Alice Gosti was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.