We hope that everyone has a wonderful day! We are here at the house spending the day folding and stringing dragons for our 1000 Dragon Challenge community art project. You can download and print this coloring page drawn by our talented intern Aurora. Have fun, y'all!

American Exceptionalism, Degenerate Counterculture, and the 100 Seconds Till Midnight features a series of paintings and digital works by Lexington-based artist Ken Howl. This highly charged show interrogates notions of patriotism, nationalism, and Americanism in our current moment. Howl’s work expresses the anxieties and fears that plague contemporary America using images and sounds that are as abstract as they are chaotic. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, his show is an apt illustration of everything that’s happened over the last several years. ​​

And finally, Being in the Land is on view in the Neal Sulier Gallery. Featuring a series of photographic artworks by artist Robyn Moore; Being in the Land visually expresses the intangible and inaccessible forces that dwell within our world. Using two distinct processes, pinhole photography and photopolymer gravure, Moore explores how the Land carries within it a biological and historical significance that is immaterial but present. In the small gallery adjacent to the Neal Sulier, Moore is also showing work from a related series called Embodied Knowledge. This series develops and expands on the ideas that undergird Being in the Land. These works reflect on ‘embodiment’: the philosophical/psychological theory that knowledge is something that we experience through our physical body. Knowledge is, as the name implies, embodied.  Together, Being in the Land and Embodied Knowledges reflect on the unseen forces within nature that effect and shape us in ways that we often don’t recognize. ​

These three shows, though quite different from one another, offer an exciting and fascinating juxtaposition. I think that, together, these shows ask us (maybe even force us) to consider our relationship to the world(s) we’re enmeshed in. Howl’s show confronts us with the anxiety and discomfort of many Americans at this time. We’re forced to consider (even feel) the oppressive forces that the governing authorities inflict on people every day. Manifesting Presence explores the revolutionary potential of presence and shows us the many ways that it is expressed. Finally, Moore’s work contemplates the ways that presence can be embodied and the ways in which we embody forces larger than ourselves. 

American Exceptionalism, Degenerate Counterculture, and the 100 Seconds Till Midnight, Manifesting Presence, and Being in the Land are on view at the Loudon House until November 6. We encourage you to stop in and see them or take a virtual tour of the exhibitions. These can be found at http://www.lexingtonartleague.org/current.html.

​Author: Aaron Reynolds
Aaron Reynolds is the curatorial intern for the Lexington Art League. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art history and visual studies from the University of Kentucky, and is now working towards an MFA in curatorial studies.