ART FEEDS THE HOMELESS
Saranac Art Projects invites you to the opening of our sixth exhibition, featuring the works of Harrell Fletcher and Marc Dombrosky, November 7thh through December 27th, 2008. Expertly curated by Jennifer A. Gately, formerly of Northwest Art at the Portland Art Museum, this exhibition features two artists practicing different forms of social engagement by exploring conflicting ideas of place and marginalized communities as diverse as retirement homes and the streets. To reach out to our own community in this season of giving and actively demonstrate the content of the artworks on display, which relate to requests for food and people helping one another, Saranac Art Projects and Main Market Co-op collaborate to host this installation, called Art Feeds the Homeless. A spin off SAP’s Art Feeds the Soul promotion with participating Spokane restaurants, SAP and Main Market ask Spokane residents to bring a canned food donation as a citywide response to Governor Christine Gregoire's recently announced “Feeding Washington” initiative to help stock the food banks of Washington State. As shared in the release, “Many Washington families are struggling during this time of national economic uncertainty,” Gregoire said. “With winter around the corner and more families facing the prospect of higher heating bills, I don’t want anyone to have to choose among paying for a warm home, a healthy meal or quality health care.” A collection container will be available in the exhibition space for convenient contributions as visitors view the show.
THE ARTISTS
A window on aspects of community, two of Harrell Fletcher’s videos will be on exhibition at the space. The Problem of Possible Redemption which is a video adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses shot at the Parkville Senior Center, Connecticut, with the seniors reading the lines from cue cards. The piece addresses society, war, and personal mortality. The other piece, Blot out the Sun, is a reworking of James Joyce's Ulysses. The garage owner, Jay, mechanics and neighborhood denizens serve as narrators, reading lines from the novel that focus on death, love, social inequality and the relationship between individuals and the universe. Fletcher has worked collaboratively and individually on a variety of socially engaged, interdisciplinary projects for over fifteen years. His work has been shown internationally at some of the worlds leading art institutions including SF Moma, The Drawing Center in New York, The Seattle Art Museum, while a participant in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Fletcher has work in the collections of MoMA, The Whitney Museum, The New Museum, SFMoMA, The Berkeley Art Museum, The De Young Museum, and The FRAC Brittany, France. Fletcher is a Professor of Art and Social Practice at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
Marc Dombrosky’s latest hand-embroidered collection of cardboard homeless signs found in the streets of Tacoma and Seattle where recently featured in the APEX exhibition series at the Portland Art Museum co-curated by Ms. Gately and Marnie P. Stark. . “Dombrosky uses found papers salvaged during street forages or given to the artist — letters, lists, directions, diagrams, and other handwritten scraps — Dombrosky provides random glimpses into the lives of strangers in his community. Each hand-drawn line on the often sun- or rain-worn paper is thoughtfully hand-embroidered with thread that matches the mark’s color and weight. The collective result is a tantalizing patchwork of transient expression and partial stories that reveal as much about language and place as human relationships and individual psychology.” state the curators. “Unlike Fletcher, who personally interacts with distinct and chosen communities, the subject of Dombrosky’s work remain strangers, soley engaged by his physical interplay with his chance discoveries says Gately. Marc Dombrosky received a BFA in painting from University of Florida, Gainesville, and a MFA from Ohio State University. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Icebox Contemporary Art, Tacoma; Solomon Fine Art, Seattle; and ACME, Columbus, Ohio.
Saranac Art Projects also hosts Thomas O’Day, a professor at Spokane Falls Community College, with an exhibition in our adjunct viewing space. O’Day has shown both locally and nationally for the past twenty-five years. He focuses on the creation of works through the destruction of objects. Mr. O’Day has contributed extensively to the Inland Northwest’s arts community while nurturing numerous students in their education. During the exhibition Mr. O’Day releases his new book, December 11th at Saranac Art Projects, Actions - Disposals-Transitions-Transformations, a reflection on his work of the past twenty years.
THE HOSTS
Saranac Art Projects is a non-profit gallery open and free to the public to establish, explore, and support contemporary visual art and culture. Join us the first Friday of every month for first Friday or visit us Wednesday through Saturday eleven-thirty to five-thirty. Saranac Art Projects is located at 25 W. Main Street, Spokane, Washington. 99201.
Main Market Co-op combines local food and local ownership in a consumer food cooperative scheduled to open in Fall 2009. Accepting memberships and business support now at www.mainmarket.coop.
member owned. locally driven.