Monica Zeringue

Her pale fire snatches from the sun

2015

LAURA TANNER GRAHAM’s drawings and installations are often discussed as part of the Southern Gothic literary tradition, sharing similar themes with authors such as Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty. As a Georgia native, Graham’s work seeks to understand the ways in which pattern and printed textiles are informed by social and political movements. Her narratives are tightly bound to antebellum traditions while balancing the changing ideals of the new generation of southern society. Graham received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BFA from Florida State University. She has exhibited nationally in both group and solo exhibitions including the Weatherspoon Art Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Athens Institute of Contemporary Art. She has also been a visiting artist at Tulane University and Valdosta State University. In 2016, Graham was awarded a fellowship and residency at the Ucross Foundation and the Vermont Studio Center. Graham is currently living and making work in Tucson, AZ. STATEMENT Firmly grounded in America’s expansive colonial history, my work interrogates how Southern culture has been idealized as “quintessential America” and the bedrock of traditional American values. Using my familiarity and position within Southern culture, I have created a new visual literacy to demonstrate how America’s nostalgia for tradition has been manipulated in an effort to isolate and disenfranchise. My drawings act as a visual archive of research that examines the consequences of American colonialism and addresses the sense of white fragility that continues to pervade Western culture. In the midst of widespread anxiety over the collective American identity, there has been a revival of many of the country’s unresolved historical battles, including contentious race relations, sexism, nativism, and an ever-growing wage gap. I employ the Americana aesthetic of the old South to parallel historical and contemporary acts of resistance to racial, economic, and gender diversity. Borrowing directly from the decorative arts, the meticulously hand-cut mylar and equally intricate drawing capitalizes on America’s propensity for nostalgia to lure the viewer into confronting injustices through the detached lens of that which has already happened. Through a combination of appropriated and invented imagery, my work contextually constructs contemporary accounts of systemic marginalization, executed under the guise of leisure, embellishment and luxury. The dense visual language invites investigation into the textured surfaces and leads the viewer to reflect on the social textures of contemporary culture while questioning their own complicity in current social constructs. Sourcing from period- specific textiles, turn-of-the-century advertisements, campaign posters, and found family photographs, the collaged images create a singular narrative composition that document the cyclical and systemic nature of marginalization in America. The methodology with which the drawings are constructed echoes historical layers of rules, regulations and hierarchies that are stitched into dominant white American myths. The resulting drawings are indexical in nature, recording the parallels between topics of current debate and 18th century Western expansionism. The disconnect between the delicate nature of the work and the unresolved cultural tensions that it reveals provides a visual record of the inconsistencies of American idealism. My current project explores the South as the embodiment of America’s pastoral traditions and values that are at the center of the “Make America Great Again” movement, a movement which has both exploited and is at odds with a social ideal that simultaneously proclaims itself to be “post- racial” and “post- gender” while identifying with a “pull-yourself-up-by-the-boot-straps” mentality. As one of the earliest colonized areas, the South is often portrayed as a region of racial and gender stability in the face of impending change. I am currently working with research institutions in the South to further understand how the architectural structure of the Southern plantation...

RUTH OWENS graduated in 2018 with an MFA from the University of New Orleans after leaving her medical practice of 25 years. She is represented by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and belong...

artwork dimensions (unframed): 59h x 41w inches LAURA TANNER GRAHAM’s drawings and installations are often discussed as part of the Southern Gothic literary tradition, sharing simil...

medium: ink on hand-cut mylar Laura Tanner Graham's drawings and installations are often discussed as part of the Southern Gothic literary tradition, sharing similar themes with aut...

In her studio practice, Pelias embraces a process that is both intuitive and deliberate. Her work moves from paintings on canvas and works on paper to site-specific installations, ob...

[Tucson, AZ ::: b. 1987, Atlanta, GA] LAURA TANNER GRAHAM's drawings and installations are often discussed as part of the Southern Gothic literary tradition, sharing similar themes ...

charcoal on paper Nicolas V. Sanchez received his BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI and his MFA from the New York Academy of Art. While at the Academy, ...

"Calm Before," is a text based contemporary abstraction by artist Vivian Liddell. This piece is built with washes of ink layered up leaving detailed forms through the piece inviting viewers to take it in up close. Liddell often walks the line between contemporary art and craft. Working to bring materials that are traditionally labeled as "craft" and lesser into the contemporary conversation. Mixing craft with one of the most respected and oldest forms of fine art, painting, really encourages the viewer to view the two on the same playing field. The idea of craft is settled into these gestural, layered works, constantly critiquing contemporary culture. This piece is currently unframed, but framing options are available. For more works follow our storefront at Gallery 1202. "As a painter, I often work on large, raw canvas. My abstract paintings merge formal painting and “bad” craft to challenge the high-low separation of materials (and related gender hierarchies) that have traditionally been present in the art world. The monotypes are like a calligraphic practice. I use them as a warm up to allow me to feel confident with a gesture before committing it to a larger scale. I work in layers, often sewing or incorporating fabric into the finished piece, and incorporate chance into each stage of my process. The text/titles often come from song lyrics, local radio commercials, and news headlines. I edit these snippets and piece them together to reflect my interpretation of current politics and social norms, especially as they relate to gender. Liddell often walks the line between contemporary art and craft. Working to bring materials that are traditionally labeled as "craft" and lesser into the contemporary conversation. Mixing craft with one of the most respected and oldest forms of fine art, painting, really encourages the viewer to view the two on the same playing field. The idea of craft is settled into these gestural, layered works, constantly critiquing contemporary culture. Vivian Liddell is an interdisciplinary artist in Athens, Georgia who works with painting, fiber and craft techniques, sculpture, printmaking, photography, animation and sound. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she received her BFA from the University of Georgia and her MFA from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Liddell’s work has been featured in solo and curated exhibitions throughout the United States, including at the Wiregrass Museum of Art, the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences, and Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn. In 2019 she had two solo exhibitions of her “Men” series at the Versa Gallery in Chattanooga and 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, with a review of the Versa exhibition in BURNAWAY and was recently picked by Berlin curator Tina Sauerlaender as a featured artist on Foundwork. Liddell hosts a podcast (Peachy Keen) as an extension of her art practice, interviewing women on art and the South. She is an Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of North Georgia...

"Things Previously Unknown #2" is a contemporary abstract expressionist painting by Laurie Barmore. Her works are extremely dynamic, with impressionist-like strokes. This piece wil...

In this work by Laurie Barmore, the artist's hand is exceedingly present. Using strong strokes of black creates its own essences of form atop washes of whites, yellows, and rust. Spi...

"The DT's" is a gestural abstraction created by artist Vivian Liddell. The piece a gestural piece recognized as a face on top of layers of wash built up on each other. Liddell often ...

Provenance: Galerie Eigen + Art, Berlin