Exhibition Dates: October 7 – October 28, 2017
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 7 from 6–9 pm, in conjunction with Art for Arts’ Sake
Gallery Location: 432 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–5 pm
Contact Info: 504.522.1999; arthurrogergallery.com
The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present Sensitivity Training, an exhibition of sculpture and video by Stephanie Patton. The exhibition will be on view at Arthur Roger Gallery, located at 432 Julia Street, from October 7 – October 28, 2017. The gallery will host an opening reception with the artist in attendance on Saturday, October 7 from 6-9pm, in conjunction with Art for Arts’ Sake.
Sensitivity Training is Stephanie Patton’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. Themes of mental and physical health, healing, comfort, and self-preservation are maintained in the new works, which include medium- to large-scale sculptural text constructions, padded vinyl wall pieces, and video. Patton continues to employ humor as a device to solicit attention to critical issues; her works explore various emotional states and address the desire to develop an understanding of oneself and one’s relationship to others.
Patton extends her decade-plus exploration of materials, including mattress quilting and vinyl – textiles with inherent references to mental and physical health and protection, and that suggest concepts related to birth, death, intimacy, relationships, illness and rest. When coupled with words or phrases with dual meanings, such as “please,” the quilted fabric is meant to bring a humorous yet poignant conceptual message to the viewer. Other sculptural text works include “Grey Matter” and “Careful.” The latter is a floor piece comprised of individual words supported by steel “bed frames” spelling out “Be careful what you wish for.” Symbiotic, a looping video work on two monitors, is based on the idiom “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
Stephanie Patton was born in New Orleans, LA in 1969. She received a B.F.A. in Painting from the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and a M.F.A. in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including shows at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY; the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, LA; and Galerie Patricia Dorfmann in Paris, France. She has received numerous grants, including from the Joan Mitchell Foundation (2017); Acadiana Center for the Arts (2017); the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation (2017); and the Louisiana Division of the Arts (2012, 2009). Her work is included in numerous permanent collections including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, LA; the New Orleans Museum of Art, LA; and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. Paton lives and works in Lafayette, LA.