The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm
Titled after the poem by Wallace Stevens, this exhibition delves into the artist's fertile interior world. The show consists of sculpture, installation and photography that is informed by both visual and decorative arts. Pattern and repetition are important elements for many works and they are expressed in found materials like wallpaper as well as meticulous mark making. As a group, the featured artworks are evocative—more in spirit and atmosphere than in physicality—of the artist's studio: a "room of one's own" that facilitates the generation of words, objects, and images.
A poet writing during World War II, Stevens was criticized for exploring largely abstract and philosophical concerns during a time of violence and upheaval. He countered that his work was not escapist, but rather necessary and crucial as any social engagement. The poem, "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm," recreates the experience of reading on a summer's night and explores how that meditative rapture can extend past the reader's room. Likewise, this exhibition suggests how resonances that exist in the artist's mind reverberate in the wider world that lies beyond the studio.
Artists:
Robert Booras, Julia Chiang, Amy Elkins, Jeff Feld, Leslie Hewitt, Amy Kao, Marc André Robinson, Kiki Smith
The exhibition is organized by Christopher Y. Lew.