When Bethel artist/sculptor Elizabeth White was selected last fall to show her work in a group exhibition entitled #IBelieveinWaterbury at the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, CT, she chose to address her ongoing concerns with the issues of crossing borders and colliding cultures, issues that impact neighborhood to neighborhood, country to country, continent to continent. Her expansive piece, entitled Migration, a huddled mass of life-cast cement leaves, drifting in different directions, is her response to the age old phenomenon of splitting and shifting populations, and the hardened fragility that such movements of peoples cause. "What may be them today," says Elizabeth, "is us tomorrow."
"The great appeal of Migration is its overall impact," writes Cynthia Roznoy, curator at Mattatuck Museum. "This installation of large-scale, cement tree leaves causes us to hesitate and question what and how. Spread out before us as if just fallen from the maple and oak trees nearby, they seemingly belong. Yet, made of industrial, gray concrete they are, at the same time, out of place. The work helps us focus on what is natural and what is our place in nature. Migration is a stunning work, each piece exquisitely shaped and delicately etched."
Entering this new year of extreme economic, political, environmental, and social change, Elizabeth continues her message that Art erases borders and joins cultures to embrace what she calls "creative intersections of shared voice." To that end, Elizabeth has added three new group shows to her 2018 resume - in Kraków, Poland, Santa Monica, CA, and Paris, France, all "creative intersections" that address her concerns and move forward her bold and proactive voice.
Though the exhibition United, at the Galeria Autorska Marian Gologorski in Kraków, Poland, has closed, the show's title says it all. As one of the top 10 and the longest running art gallery in Poland (the Gallery was opened in 1982), Gologorski posed the questions, "What is the meaning of Unity? Is the modern world United, or is it just space where multiple individual entities coexist?" (http://www.gologorski.com/)
Back home at Arena 1 Gallery in Santa Monica, CA, the Women's Caucus for Art opens Art Speaks! Lend Your Voice on Thursday, February 22nd. Based in an historic hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, Arena 1 promotes cultural exchange through international curatorial projects, importing unique and divergent international viewpoints as a creative-port-of-call. The show runs through Friday, March 10th. (http://arena1gallery.com/)
On Tuesday, February 27th, at Le 59 rue de Rivoli, Paris, Rebirth [re-naissance], the 11th exhibition presented by BioWoman collective, opens. The BioWoman artistic movement was founded in 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Elizabeth White has been featured previously in the worldwide mobile exhibition project, which continues to illuminate the creative and intellectual abilities of women from many cultures. Elizabeth's featured work questions current perceptions of power and kinship. The show runs through Saturday, March 11th. (https://www.facebook.com/biowomanart/)
Unity, Rebirth, Kinship, Voice. "What may be them today is us tomorrow."
Migration continues to be exhibited in the rooftop gardens through the spring at the Mattatuck Museum, 144 W Main St, Waterbury, CT. For information and directions to Mattatuck Museum, go to mattmuseum.org or call (203) 753-0381 Collectors, galleries, and art enthusiasts may contact Elizabeth White by visiting elizabethart.net
Photo credit: Bob Becker