October 17- November 18 2016

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Exhibition Information:

The Speer Gallery at The Shipley School

814 Yarrow St. Bryn Mawr PA

 

Participating Artist include:

Salina Almanzar

Justin Bean

Travis Grant

Sean Hildreth

Evan Kitson

Kate McCammon

Cooper Millholland

Aaron Thompson

Julie Thompson

Alma Selimovic

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In my curated exhibition for the Speer Gallery at the Shipley School +1: Piece & Process I’m looking at the relationships the artworks we make have to the objects and tools we use to make them. Often the way we work is just as important and unique as the things we make. I believe that process is an important concept to consider when looking at art; for some, it’s just a means to an end, and for others it’s the purpose entirely and the piece is just the result.

 

Bringing together an object of inspiration or tool from the studio with the finished piece gives us a chance to see and discuss the connections between the artist, their process, and their art. For young artists and students, seeing how a particular process is conducted can provide insight into their own art making experience. For the more involved artist, it opens a conversation about the many ways one could make art. And for us all as viewers, we are provided another layer of context in which to appreciate the works before us.

 

In many cases the objects provided by each artist in this exhibition will have inside them the history of the artists past works, and the beginnings of pieces still to come. In Kate McCammon's piece “New Mexico” created during a residency at the Start Night Retreat in New Mexico, she is using a range of materials that include painted surfaces. The object she chose to pair with her piece is a canvas paintbrush roll, one that she uses exclusively during residency experiences. This brush roll has years of paint buildup and is heavily used, this object speaks to McCammon’s process of building layers and histories inside the work that reveal themselves the more you spend time looking at them.

 

Thank you for engaging in this conversation and I hope you can make a connection to how the objects around you influence your own process, in any situation.

 

-Matt Allyn Chapman, Guest Curator