BRATTLEBORO-Four new exhibits exploring memory and the passage of time open at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Saturday, Oct. 26. All are welcome to a 5 p.m. opening party with the exhibiting artists and curators, featuring live music, free food, and a cash bar.
Five different curators brought the new exhibits to life, including BMAC Director of Exhibitions Sarah Freeman and guest curators from Vermont, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
"Working with guest curators helps ensure that our exhibits reflect a broad range of perspectives and ideas," said Freeman in a news release. "And the artists featured in this new round of exhibits are pushing the boundaries of their chosen art forms, whether it be drawing, photography, collage, sculpture, video, or printmaking."
In Susan Mikula's "Island," curated by Charlie Hunter, we see the artist's photographs of a 30-acre shelf of bedrock forcing the Connecticut River to make an abrupt eastward hitch in Bellows Falls-a spot that has been defined by humans for centuries.
According to the news release, this peninsula, an important gathering place for the Abenaki and Iroquois people, became surrounded by water with the creation of the Bellows Falls Canal at the turn of the 19th century.
Created specifically for this BMAC exhibit, Mikula's images "possess a dream-like and wistful effect," achieved through years of observation and experimentation with a variety of old Polaroid cameras and expired instant film.
Adrienne Elise Tarver crafts a lush experience through her multimedia, site-specific installation "Roots, Water, Air," curated by Daricia Mia DeMarr.
Tarver says, "My work examines the nuanced and often obscured dimensions of Black female identity, exploring the historical and cultural narratives within domestic spaces, the fantasy of the tropical seductress, and the archetype of the spiritual matriarch. This work is driven by my quest for belonging and understanding, which leads me to trace my familial roots and construct imagined lineages to fill the gaps left by unwritten or lost histories."
Inspired by a visit to Brattleboro last summer, seeing the convergence of the Connecticut and West rivers, and learning the history of the land, Tarver's work explores the interconnectedness of humans and nature.
"Desire Lines," co-curated by Freeman and BMAC Curator Emerita Mara Williams, showcases a wide range of works, materials, and techniques by six artists for whom drawing is essential to their artmaking.
James Siena, Dana Piazza, Tara Geer, Nandini Chirimar, Maggie Nowinski, and Alex Callender use graphite, watercolor, crayon, ink and ink wash, collage, acrylic, and charcoal. While paper is the most traditional drawing surface, the exhibit includes canvas and installation. The works exemplify the many ways artists use drawing to explore, reflect, and communicate with their physical and interior worlds. As Geer says, "I draw what I see but cannot explain."
"The Noise of Us," curated by Elissa Watters, brings together four collage artists who have created works that are physically, visually, and conceptually layered, challenging the traditional approach to collage - a loose term that refers to the practice of cutting up existing materials, rearranging them, and pasting them onto paper to create a new two-dimensional image.
Felipe Baeza, Ori Gersht, Simonette Quamina, and Maika'i Tubbs move past the traditional approach of torn or cut paper adhered to a surface, employing photography, sculpture, prints, and layered drawing in their collages.
In addition to the four new exhibits, visitors to BMAC will find the East Gallery transformed into The Living Room, a space to relax and hang out, with artwork on the walls by students connected to Brattleboro's In-Sight Photography Project.
Also on view outside the museum are two exhibits that opened last spring - Vanessa Compton's "A Night at the Garden" (through April 2025) and Lee Williams's "The Wounding" (through Nov. 3).
While the new exhibits are on view, BMAC will present numerous events - artist and curator talks, exhibit tours, workshops, and more-offering audiences a range of opportunities to engage more deeply with the artwork. More information is available at brattleboromuseum.org.
BMAC will be closed Oct. 20–25 to install the new exhibits opening Oct. 26.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.