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Currents is a new curatorial series that provides local artists an opportunity to curate an exhibition featuring the work of other local artists. The series is designed give artists a direct voice in what is seen in our galleries, and to encourage open dialogue about the extraordinary work being made in our community.
Local artist Louis Zoellar Bickett II, a Lexington-based and internationally-exhibited conceptual artist and photographer best-known for his practice of collecting, is the first curator of this series. Since 1972, Bickett has been building The Archive, an installation of cataloged items from his life -- an old restaurant receipt, ashes from his late dog, his own haircut shavings. Recently he added Project Lexington, a photographic survey of his hometown that captures daily life in such a way that it challenges the status quo, to his Must Do list. Bickett's obsession with collecting, archiving, documenting, and preserving has extended beyond things to include people. Throughout his experience as a self-taught artist, Bickett has met, befriended, and accumulated relationships with extraordinary artists. These relationships have informed his own artmaking and influenced that of others. For the first time ever at LAL, this exchange between artists will be examined in an exhibition curated by Bickett and featuring the work of six artists who have ties to Lexington: Aaron Michael Skolnick, Aurora Parrish, R. Clint Colburn, G. Haviland Argo III, Guy Mendes, and Phillip March Jones. G. Haviland Argo III
An architect now living in New York City, Argo served as Bickett's studio assistant while a student at the University of Kentucky.
His artwork is undeniably influenced by the mentorship of Bickett, as his portraits have an subdued intensity and disquieting intimacy that echoes the frequency of Bickett's work. Aurora Parrish
Parrish is an installation and performance artist who earned top honors and captured Louis Bickett's attention as an art studio senior in 2012. After seeing her work in the annual Carey Ellis Juried Student Art Exhibition at the University of Kentucky, Bickett selected her piece "Fragile Becomes You" as a winning entry in the exhibition.
Parrish, who lives and works in Lexington, Ky., has also exhibited in Expanded Music Project and was featured in a solo exhibition This Woman's Work at Land of Tomorrow earlier this year. R. Clint Colburn
For Colburn , the act of art making is a contemplative exercise, a tool for self-discovery, and a means for examining the subconscious. His meditative paintings, drawings, and sculptures are packed with dense and colorful imagery. Through obscured text and playful visual juxtapositions, they explore the nature of symbols and question their related associations.
Colburn attended the University of Kentucky and has exhibited throughout the South and Midwest, as well as in London, Los Angeles, and New York. Phillip March Jones
Phillip March Jones is an artist, writer, and curator.
His vibrant works on paper are reminiscent of traditional folk art with an outsider art twist. Most recently, his series of Polaroid photographs documenting roadside memorials was exhibited at 21C Museum Hotel. Jones is the founder and creative director of Institute 193, which featured Louis Bickett's work in its debut exhibition, and is director of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, Ga. Guy Mendes
Guy Mendes is one of the best-known and well-respected photographers in Kentucky, capturing the essence of place and person through traditional darkroom techniques.
His work has been widely published in books and magazines and his prints are in many public and private collections. He works out of his home studio in Lexington, Ky. Aaron Michael Skolnick
Through meticulous graphite and ink renderings of iconic images and uncanny self-portraits, Aaron Michael Skolnick, a BFA graduate of the University of Kentucky, explores the real or “thingness” of the reality around him.
Skolnick has exhibited at Land of Tomorrow in Lexington, Louisville and St. Louis, Mo., and at the Rare Gallery in New York. |
Sept. 6, 2013, 6-9pm
LAL's Loudoun House FREE for Everyone ($5 donation suggested and appreciated) Celebrate local art at the opening of Currents, curated by Louis Bickett and featuring the work of: Aaron Michael Skolnick Aurora Parrish R. Clint Colburn G. Haviland Argo III Guy Mendes, and Phillip March Jones. Mingle with artists and the curator and enjoy live music by Idiot Glee, food and refreshments from DaRae & Friends Catering, and Barrel House Distilling Company. Supported by WUKY and Story Magazine. 
Ages 3-5
Tues., Sept. 17, 2013, 10am Ages: 5+ Sat., Sept. 28, 11am Join your child in a free and fun interactive tour of Currents. Designed for a younger audience, family tours encourage children to share their observations and ideas about the exhibition, while participating in hands-on art activities. Walk-ins welcome. Tours are FREE. * Age ranges are flexible, particularly for families with multiple aged children. Contact Colleen Merrill with any questions. 
Sept. 26, 2013, 4:30-8pm
Fifth Third Pavilion at Cheapside Park FREE for Everyone Hang with the Lexington Art League at Thursday Night Live! LAL is the featured non-profit on Sept. 26, which means all tips collected during the evening will go toward even more art for everyone. We'll be working the beer truck, and tip boxes will be stationed at each drink booth. Blind Corn Liquor Pickers will perform bluegrass that burns going down, warms your gut, and then hits your head like a thunderbolt of white lightning. 
Oct. 11, 2013, 5:30pm
LAL's Loudoun House FREE for Everyone Listen, share, learn, explore, discuss... and enrich your art-viewing experience. Join artists from Currents in a conversation about the important role of visual art in our community. Select artists will also discuss the process, influence and context of their work while opening up the conversation for public inquiry and reaction. Artists conversations are relaxed and casual; all levels of interest and background are invited to the chat. |
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