BRATTLEBORO-Artist Adrienne Elise Tarver and curator Daricia Mia DeMarr discuss Tarver's site-specific, immersive multimedia exhibition, "Roots, Water, Air," in an online conversation presented by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m.
Tarver is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York, who works in painting, sculpture, installation, photography, textiles, and video. Invited by BMAC and DeMarr to create an installation for the museum's Mary Sommer Room, Tarver drew upon video footage she recorded during a 2023 residency in the Azores.
The footage is projected on three walls and is periodically accompanied by a recording of the African-American spiritual, "Wade in the Water," a reference to the Azores' role in the transatlantic slave trade. According to the artist, the work is also informed by Brattleboro's location at the confluence of the Connecticut and West rivers.
"Roots, Water, Air" remains on view at BMAC through March 8.
"Tarver crafts a lush experience where nature is the beholder of time and space, and where nature is revered for its brilliance, patience, and ways of being in harmony with itself," DeMarr wrote about the exhibit.
In her artist statement, Tarver wrote, "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."
Tarver continued, "Root systems, usually underground, speak to ideas of invisibility and finding refuge in the dark, but the above-ground roots of mangrove trees make visible these systems of resilience and structures of refuge. Mangroves protect coastlines, support diverse ecosystems, and serve as a powerful metaphor for the ways in which Black women have created stable environments while straddling disparate contexts, and enduring tumultuous histories and contemporary challenges."
In 2024, Tarver's first solo public art exhibition, "She who sits," was displayed on 300 bus shelters across New York City, Chicago, and Boston, courtesy of the Public Art Fund, a nonprofit organization that presents contemporary art in New York and other areas with the mission to make public art accessible to everyone.
DeMarr, who is from Los Angeles, is director of Peg Alston Fine Arts in New York and an independent curator, arts administrator, writer, and art consultant. She founded Pi Arts Projects and is a co-founder of Black Women in Visual Art.
Admission is free, but advance registration is required. To register, visit brattleboromuseum.org or call 802-257-0124, ext. 101.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.