Exhibitions
Featuring
Melissa Burley, Sean Hennessey, Scott Pennington
May 12 - July 7, 2018
Reception: Saturday, May 12, 5-8 pm
An inaugural exhibition for the Brentwood Arts Exchange new gallery space, Lab Gallery, (En)lighted presents a poetic play of light, texture and color. The artists navigate the concepts of life, imagination and nostalgic connections by creating mixed media, and mechanical illuminated works.
Artist Melissa Burley questions the life span of objects in relation to that of our own: is it over once it is discarded, used? Does life and beauty continue to emanate once something serves its "purpose"? On another level, Sean Hennessey uses glass and light to compose imagery with a whimsical aestethic-transporting us through mythology, history and the sciences, while master woodworker Scott Pennington builds mechanical vessels that investigates human nostalgia through a framework of light, color and sound.
The works of the artists highlight the ultimate goal of the new gallery space: to be a place where creative individuals can experiment and create memorable experiences.
June 11 – August 11, 2018
Reception: June 16, 5–8 pm
In a collaboration with the Brentwood Arts Exchange and under the direction of Professor Jason Kuo, University of Maryland art students curate, design and produce an exhibition featuring local artists. The exhibit will feature the work of Lorenzo Cardim, Victor Ekpuk and Wilfredo Valladares, with a focus on their material investigations, and an exploration of the transnational elements present in their process and productions. These artists, drawing upon their own complex cultural identities, create works that challenge our perception of identity as singular and unchanging. The students create an experience where the conversation between the works highlights the relationship between individual identity and the broader cultural and political issues of today around the world.
Works by Sharon Fishel, Susan Hostetler and Nancy Sausser
August 27 - October 21, 2018
Reception: Saturday, september 8, 5 - 8 pm
Artists Talk: Saturday, October 6, 2 pm
Artists Sharon Fishel, Susan Hostetler and Nancy Sausser, investigate the various manifestations of fertility, including the airborne, the interior and the aqueous. In a Fertile World presents their shared interest in the patterns and cycles of the natural world.
Working with oil paint, Fishel builds layer upon layer of color, texture and transparency. Her transformational forms, gathered from nature, are “grown” into complete works, suggesting individual moments in the natural life cycle of living forms as well as reflections upon the impermanent nature of the world.
On a more sculptural form, and inspired by flora and fauna, Hostetler’s drawings and 3-D wall pieces focus on the seasonal movement of migration, patterns in murmurations of birds, and the visual arrangement of their songs. Her work is an exploration of balance between predictability and mystery.
Sausser, in turn, explores the dichotomy between interior and exterior worlds. Her encased womb-like vessels reference the landscape and the botanical, while also conjuring images the interior body and bringing to mind an earthy and ceremonial sense of reverence.