This formal list of curated exhibitions is followed by images of showcards, installation shots and curatorial notes. Use the scroll bar on the right.
Curated Shows: General
2010 Lexington Meet Latitude, Ann Tower Gallery, Lexington, KY
2009 George and Mona: Ike Morgan, Galerie Impaire, Paris, France
2009 The Black South, Galerie Christian Berst, Paris, France
2008 Communication Breakdown Part II, Galerie Impaire, Paris, France
2008 Communication Breakdown Part I, Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2007 The JONES SHOP, AE Project Space, New York, NY
2007 Jessie Dunahoo, Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
2006 SEAP, Jones Shop, Lexington, Kentucky
2006 Latitude, Jones Shop, Lexington, Kentucky
Curated Shows: Institute 193
2010 Jessie Dunahoo: Sheltered Environment
2010 Robert Morgan: All That Glitters
2010 Mare Vaccaro: Multiple Personalities
2010 Bruce Burris: We Will Someday, Someday We Will
2010 Bulletin Board Cafe
2010 Louis Zoellar Bickett II: Selections From the Archive
Curated Collections:
Baron & Budd, PC, Dallas, Texas
Russell Budd Private Collection, Dallas, Texas
JESSIE DUNAHOO: SHELTERED ENVIRONMENT
May 20, 2010 - June 12, 2010
Opening Reception: May 20 | 6 - 9 PM
Jessie Dunahoo began his art career as a child, sewing bread bags the length of his family’s farmhouse near Beattyville, Kentucky. As a young man, Dunahoo began exploring the family farm by hanging intersecting strings, ropes and wires which could be grasped and threaded, on various fences and trees, thereby creating 3-d maps which he used to navigate outdoor space. Jessie Dunahoo is deaf and blind. In time, Dunahoo’s environments have grown and evolved into complex sewn structures made of found materials including grocery bags, fabric samples, pieces of old clothing and twine.Through an interpreter Jessie describes his works as shelters, and they are strung about his home and yard covering his walls, floor and ceiling. To allay any doubts, Jessie is completely aware that he is creating “art” and is quick to ask a viewer if they think his work is “beautiful?” Institute 193 has asked Dunahoo to install a working version of his environment at the gallery, navigating our space. This show is produced in conjunction with Latitude Artist Community, the organization that has provided Dunahoo support in the creation and exhibition of his work for over decade.
Images courtesy THE JONES SHOP and Andrew Edlin Gallery, NYC.
ROBERT MORGAN: ALL THAT GLITTERS...
April 15, 2010 - May 16, 2010
Opening Reception: April 15 | 6 - 9 PM
Institute 193 and Robert Morgan were recently awarded an EcoGrant by LFUCG to conduct a series of educational workshops aimed at exposing the public to the possibilities of recycling as a method of art-making. Morgan works with junk and found objects, assembling them into speaking cultural artifacts shaped by the artist’s Catholic childhood, previous drug addiction and the AIDS epidemic of the 90’s. His work addresses the concept of recycling both physically and conceptually. Through a process of collection and assemblage, Morgan is able to transform hair brushes, children’s toys, old radios and other various discarded objects into works of art that speak to the life experiences of the artist and the former lives and stories embodied by the objects themselves. The recycling of objects, photos, memories, and experience makes Morgan’s work engaging to people of all ages and education levels. Morgan is a Lexington-based artist whose family goes back to the early pioneers of central Kentucky and the mountains of Appalachia. This project serves as a formal introduction of Morgan’s work to the larger community of schools, community centers and art enthusiasts.
MARE VACCARO: MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES
March 4, 2010 - April 11, 2010
Opening Reception: March 4 | 6 - 9 PM
In 1987, the US Congress officially declared March as Women's History Month. Institute 193, in conjunction with this period of pointed national discussion, presents Multiple Personalities, a solo-exhibition by Mare Vaccaro. This exhibition focuses on Vacarro’s use of “self-portrait” photography and prop-construction to explore evolving notions of feminity, beauty, adornment and identity. Vaccaro has alopecia universalis, a genetic miscoded medical condition that renders her body completely hairless. She is thus able to manipulate her physical body as a blank canvas,adorning herself with various found and constructed objects. The result is a series of startling and beautiful images depicting the deconstructed female form in various settings and
portrayed as different characters or personalities..The pressure to adorn oneself is perversely satisfied in Vaccaro’s work, calling into question the most basic standards of beauty and gender roles The final product is a gleeful triumph of the individual over society’s expectations or a revelatory acceptance of its overwhelming pressure.
BRUCE BURRIS: WE WILL SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY WE WILL
January 14 - March 10, 2010
Opening Reception: January 14 | 6 - 9 PM
Performance by Eric Sutherland at 7:3O PM
We Will Someday, Someday We Will. It might be tomorrow, the day after or even next week, but we will. Someday We Will. In the midst of making our New Year’s resolutions and vowing to improve ourselves and the way we live, Institute 193 is presenting the first solo-exhibition in a decade by Lexington-artist, Bruce Burris. This amalgam of new work includes sculpture, drawing, painting and installation dealing with the subjects of mountaintop removal,
rural-Southern community dynamics and the tremendous importance of activism in function of these movements. These issues have traditionally been treated as geographically specific concerns but are increasingly viewed as essential aspects of the larger "green movement." Burris, a native of Delaware, is working with this material as an interested observer, employing an established aesthetic to further these broadening conversations visually and intellectually. Burris’ visual material is structured as scaffolding supported by language and carries an immense potential for both action and interaction.
BULLETIN BOARD CAFE
December 10, 2009 – January 9, 2010
Concept and organization by Michele Thursz in collaboration with Phillip March Jones.
The Bulletin Board Café at Institute 193 is an installation and social tool that encourages dialogue amongst individuals, local art communities and other groups with diverging interests. It is foremost, a place to exchange information locally. Bulletin boards are constantly being relocated to dedicated URLS, which propose an international public. In order to determine where technology might be best deployed is to address local needs. We must find situations where individual members of local communities are actively trying to find, connect, and share information with one another.
We propose the Bulletin Board Café at Institute 193 as a sociological tool that supports proximal information to encourage useful sharing amongst the local art communities and general public. The exchange of information supports the individual’s interests within a community and can possibly initiate broader social, cultural and economic dialog and actions. Bulletin Board Café is a tool for participation and community voice. We invite you to share responsibly any information with your public; this public includes minors. Bulletin Board Café will have a sign-up sheet to schedule free use of the café space to host PUBLIC round tables, free courses, and negotiations.
All ephemera, objects and information are to be included in the installation of Bulletin Board Cafe and all actions can be documented for publication.
Philosophy
It is human nature to communicate; the first societies were built on exchange thriving on the local resources. A healthy community will mirror in the individuals rights, freedom of expression, arts, politics, economy. As a community we can actively participate in a global society. Health is cognitive to expression and aligns with prosperity, tolerance, and change.
Commodity
The Bulletin Board Café will serve coffee, tea, and soda.
Design
Property should be a small room with storefront window, to create intimate environment with a fish bowl visibility.
Bulletin Board Café/ installation
Bulletin board, long picnic table, one chalk board for impromptu strategizing.
Photo credit: Louis Zoellar Bickett II
LOUIS ZOELLAR BICKETT II: SELECTIONS FROM THE ARCHIVE
October 15 - November 30, 2009
Since 1972, Louis Bickett has meticulously collected and cataloged items from his daily life and assembled them into a functioning installation he refers to as: THE ARCHIVE. Photographs, dinner receipts, dog brushes, jars, binders anditems of every sort are tagged and neatly placed within the 3-D collage that serves as home and studio to the artist. The strength of Bickett’s work is plainly hidden in its volume and breadth - attesting to the tireless work and profound vision of its disclipined creator. Furiously collecting and archiving towards death, Bickett has become the central object of the archive - missing only the tag he will receive, not unlike the rest of us, upon his own death. ‘Selections from the Archive’ presents a working installation of Bickett’s archive, welcoming the viewer into the artist’s studio for an invited glimpse of a project 37 years in the making.