BRATTLEBORO-Longtime friends Susan Brearey and Duane Slick have spent years as individual artists bringing their close observations of animals and landscapes to life. On Thursday, Aug. 15, they will discuss their first collaborative exhibit: "The In Between," currently on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC).
The talk, facilitated by the exhibit's curator DJ Hellerman, will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the museum, 10 Vernon St.
Brearey recently retired after teaching art for more than 30 years at The Putney School. Slick has taught painting and printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) since 1995. Both have exhibited their artwork in galleries throughout the United States and internationally, but their first exhibit together emphasizes their shared artistic interests, they say: in shadows and light, formal experimentation, and the balance between abstraction and legibility.
Curator Hellerman says Brearey and Slick also share the goal of creating work that "deepens their respective practices of personal myth-making and connections with the more-than-human world."
Brearey, a native of rural New England, earned a master of fine arts in painting and printmaking from RISD and is known for her "unique, iconic depiction of animals." Ravens intrigue her, she says, with their striking appearance and commanding presence.
Brearey's French Canadian grandmother once told her that seeing a raven would bring good luck and that the birds were important messengers worthy of attention. "Their Monty Python-like squawks are hilarious," Brearey says, "as though the world should be quiet and a theatrical performance is about to begin."
Brearey's work "captures fleeting moments with precise detail," say organizers, "conveying the profound connections among humans, animals, and the wilderness."
For Slick, a citizen of the Meskwaki Nation, the coyote is the animal with power and meaning. Coyotes often appear in North American tribal folklore as a trickster character, with an elusive nature and the ability to adapt and thrive in adverse environments.
Slick "creates mystery in his depictions," say organizers, "sometimes showing the animal clearly, sometimes hinting with shadows and lines."
Born in Waterloo, Iowa, Slick earned a bachelor of fine arts in painting from the University of Northern Iowa and a master of fine arts in painting from the University of California-Davis. He combines Modernist abstraction with the beliefs and traditions of his Native American heritage and - like Brearey - with his family history. In doing so, Slick brings to the surface ideas and narratives that have been excluded from standard colonial history.
Hellerman is chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. Working with artists creating sensitive, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary projects, he says, he focuses on the relationship between art, technology, and spirituality; place-based art making; early use of video as an artform; and the development of alternative cultural institutions.
"The In Between" features collaborations Brearey and Slick have done with other artists, including an experimental video by Slick and fellow RISD professor Martin Smick; and a theatrical backdrop Brearey created using a magic lantern - a 19th-century version of a projector - for a multimedia performance, Pumpkintown, with percussionist Peter Irvine and Grammy-nominated ethnomusicologist Tim Eriksen.
BMAC will present Pumpkintown on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m., at Next Stage Arts in Putney. "The In Between" is on view at BMAC through Oct. 19.
Admission to the Aug. 15 talk on "The In Between" is free, and walk-ins are welcome, but attendees may also register at brattleboromuseum.org or 802-257-0124, ext. 101. For accessibility questions and requests, email [email protected] or call 802-257-0124, ext. 101.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.