Don’t Miss This Artistic ‘So-Called,’ ‘Get-Together’

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photo of person looking at "Anthropomorphology" by Eric Conrad
photo of "The Existentialist" - Eric Conrad
photo of installation by FOUR-FOOTED FELLOWS CORRESPONDENCE CLUB

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 5, 2017) Beginning Friday, the University of Kentucky Bolivar Art Gallery will host two shows concurrently exploring the nature of relationships and space through different lenses.

In the front gallery, FOUR-FOOTED FELLOWS CORRESPONDENCE CLUB, a four-person artist collaborative, created a site-specific installation titled “So-Called.” In the rear gallery space, artist Eric Conrad mounts “Get-Together,” an exhibition of soft sculptures in varying scale. All five artists will be on campus Friday, Oct. 6, to talk about their work and attend the opening reception for the free public exhibitions. The talk will begin at noon in the gallery. The reception will follow. 

Members of the FOUR-FOOTED FELLOWS CORRESPONDENCE CLUB, Josh Black, David Dunlap, Travis Head and Zach Stensen, are based in the U.S. and the Middle East. Over the last nine years, the collective has developed a visual lexicon through drawing, installation, photography and object-making, which at its root serves as an ongoing dialogue between members, while also chronicling the group history.

Since the group’s members are not anchored to a central location, the collective’s reconvening often takes place in the context of a project or exhibition, and the subsequent work is imbued with a personal iconography that explores themes of wandering, wayfaring and history.

“Our art practice is largely intuitive and influenced by the act of getting together. We approach each show as an intense, short-term residency, where the majority of the work is generated on site. A project’s subject matter and direction often materializes as the installation unfolds: we reference stories and themes that develop while drawing together, respond to the idiosyncrasies of the exhibition space, and utilize our surroundings by scouting for local materials,” said the collective. “In the end this approach forces us to improvise and adapt to the situation at hand, and forego individual authorship to produce something singularly collaborative.”

Eric Conrad’s figures, part-beast and part-human, struggle to maintain a sense of identity, support and control within sensual, exuberant, violent and co-dependent relationships. The art often contains narratives that deal with a coming to terms with past actions taken or current events not easily forgotten. Heaps of figures and materials are mixed-up, entangled, disfigured and forced into co-dependent communities, fragile structures where there is potential for reconciliation and collapse.

“I am interested in creating theatrical spaces, psychological spaces, where the viewer can encounter situations that are both familiar and surprising; unnerving and playful.” Conrad said.

The Bolivar Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the UK School of Art and Visual Studies Building, located at 236 Bolivar St. The exhibition, on display Oct. 6-Nov. 2, is available for viewing during regular gallery hours 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

The UK School of Art and Visual Studies, at the UK College of Fine Arts, is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of art studioart history and visual studiesart education, and digital media and design.