Exhibition Dates: March 7 – 28, 2009
Reception: Saturday, March 7th, 6 – 8 pm
Location: Arthur Roger Gallery, 432 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Gallery Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm
Contact Info: 504.522.1999. www.arthurrogergallery.com
The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present, “Letters Home,” an exhibition of work by Stephen Sollins. The exhibition will be on view March 7th – 28th at the Arthur Roger Gallery located at 432 Julia Street. The artist will be present at the opening reception hosted by the gallery on Saturday, March 7th from 6 to 8 pm.
Stephen Sollins is interested in the intersection between sentimentality and the geometry, grids and systematic approaches of high modern, minimal and conceptual art. The artist states that, “Source materials are very important in my work. I have used worn household linens, television schedules, camping supply catalogues and the daily newspaper. All have to do with domestic space or the establishment of it.”
This exhibition contains works from Sollins’ “Elegy” series in which he incorporates altered embroidered textiles, and his “Static” series which includes compiled television schedules, along with recent intriguing quilt pieces constructed from the security liner patterns of used envelopes.
In his “Elegy” series Sollins transformed secondhand, embroidered linens into Modernist geometric abstractions by altering the arrangement of the original stitches. By juxtaposing a new “Modern” composition with the sentimental remains of the original textile design, the artist eulogizes the anonymous craftsperson while drawing attention to possible similarities of intent between “high” and “low” art. The transformation of these abandoned household linens contrasts the symbolism of a “craft-based” formula with a rigid Modernist one, thereby questioning the artistic process itself.
Sollins has an abiding interest in the emotional response of viewers confronting familiar objects that have been altered in unexpected ways. His combination of sources and systems involves questions about the symbolic economy of love and affection while evoking loss, the element of time and the process of handiwork.
Sollins received his M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1997 and his B.A. from Bard College in 1990. His work has been shown at museums and galleries throughout the United States. In 2005 he was a featured participant in “Raw Data: Conceptual Art in Louisiana” at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. His work is included in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum. He is a recipient of Fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony and Smack Mellon.
Sollins lives and works in uptown New Orleans and Brooklyn, New York.
For additional information contact the gallery at 504.522.1999 or visit our Web site www.arthurrogergallery.com.