Ryan Jude Novelline - Golden Book Gown - Photo by Greg Brown
Last Word
September 28 - November 2, 2013
Opening & Artist Reception
Saturday, September 28th, 5-8pm
Drift Contemporary Art Gallery, located at the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion historic site in Portsmouth, NH will hold an opening artist reception on Saturday, September 28th from 5-8pm for the exhibition ‘Last Word’ curated by Ali Goodwin. This will be the final exhibition of the 2013 season and is Black-Tie optional.
The Main Gallery features works by three Rhode Island School of Design Alumni. The centerpiece of the space is the storybook ‘Golden Book Gown’ designed by Ryan Jude Novelline and constructed entirely out of recycled and discarded children’s Golden Books. “Can the stories of our past become part of a sustainable future?” asks Novelline. The paper skirt is comprised entirely of the original book illustrations sewn together with metallic gold thread. The bodice is made from the books’ foil spines backed by tape adhesive.
Paintings by Tyson Jacques, selections from both the ‘Imperative Series’ and a the ‘Seven Words Series’, his latest body of work, continue to study the “relative sameness” of handwriting samples. ‘Seven Words’ specifically examines the growing acceptance of vulgarity as expressed in our actions and our language in popular American culture. “My work with these words is an exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing the world differently by doing something as simple and cathartic as cursing.” Drift Gallery director and curator, Ali Goodwin presents an ongoing multimedia project entitled ‘Body Language,’ incorporating black and white photographs with QR codes linked to audio files, allowing the viewer to use a smartphone to hear in the subject’s own voice, the stories behind what Goodwin calls, “a person’s last, most final statement – one they literally take to the grave.”
September 28 - November 2, 2013
Opening & Artist Reception
Saturday, September 28th, 5-8pm
Drift Contemporary Art Gallery, located at the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion historic site in Portsmouth, NH will hold an opening artist reception on Saturday, September 28th from 5-8pm for the exhibition ‘Last Word’ curated by Ali Goodwin. This will be the final exhibition of the 2013 season and is Black-Tie optional.
The Main Gallery features works by three Rhode Island School of Design Alumni. The centerpiece of the space is the storybook ‘Golden Book Gown’ designed by Ryan Jude Novelline and constructed entirely out of recycled and discarded children’s Golden Books. “Can the stories of our past become part of a sustainable future?” asks Novelline. The paper skirt is comprised entirely of the original book illustrations sewn together with metallic gold thread. The bodice is made from the books’ foil spines backed by tape adhesive.
Paintings by Tyson Jacques, selections from both the ‘Imperative Series’ and a the ‘Seven Words Series’, his latest body of work, continue to study the “relative sameness” of handwriting samples. ‘Seven Words’ specifically examines the growing acceptance of vulgarity as expressed in our actions and our language in popular American culture. “My work with these words is an exercise in stepping out of my comfort zone and experiencing the world differently by doing something as simple and cathartic as cursing.” Drift Gallery director and curator, Ali Goodwin presents an ongoing multimedia project entitled ‘Body Language,’ incorporating black and white photographs with QR codes linked to audio files, allowing the viewer to use a smartphone to hear in the subject’s own voice, the stories behind what Goodwin calls, “a person’s last, most final statement – one they literally take to the grave.”
Dennis Michael Jones - Sometimes
The Loft showcases work by Michigan painter and installation artist, Dennis Michael Jones. His ‘Sometimes’ series incorporates both text and spatial explorations with color and abstraction. “The act of painting attempts to encompass all of human communication,” says Jones. “Painting is a synthesis of the imagination and reality, the unknowable and the known; it is a dynamic interrelationship of content and form that provides a basis for its syntax and comprehension.”
In keeping with the exhibition’s theme of creating a dialogue between art, artist and viewer, the Kolb Memorial Gallery pairs neon installation ‘Equation’ by Portland, Maine-based TED Fellow, Alicia Eggert and video portrait of actor Brad Pitt, the final in a series of three installations by vanguard ‘theater artist’ Robert Wilson with music by Michael Galasso and voice and text by Christopher Knowles.
The exhibition, ‘Last Word’ runs September 28th – November 2nd, 2013. It is free and open to the public. All works are available for purchase.
>> SHOP THE ART
In keeping with the exhibition’s theme of creating a dialogue between art, artist and viewer, the Kolb Memorial Gallery pairs neon installation ‘Equation’ by Portland, Maine-based TED Fellow, Alicia Eggert and video portrait of actor Brad Pitt, the final in a series of three installations by vanguard ‘theater artist’ Robert Wilson with music by Michael Galasso and voice and text by Christopher Knowles.
The exhibition, ‘Last Word’ runs September 28th – November 2nd, 2013. It is free and open to the public. All works are available for purchase.
>> SHOP THE ART
