Plains Art Museum Explores What Binds Us with New Exhibition (Un)Common Threads
Press Release
For Immediate Release (September 2019)
Fargo, N.D. – With humor, imagination and exemplary skill, printmakers Katy Seals and John Charles Cox create specific, yet boundless worlds within their work. Using the graphic force of serigraphy, each of their work is influenced by contemporary American culture and the urge to break down barriers. (Un)Common Threads opens on September 12, 2019, and will be displayed in the Creativity Gallery, located in the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity through January 5 2020.
(Un)common Threads highlights the artists’ differing approaches to serigraphy (also known as silkscreen) and their shared interests in portraiture, narrative and pop culture. The exhibition also features a screenprinting salon on October 8 and 9 from 6-9 pm with hands-on demonstrations as well as Katy Seals as a Plains Art Museum resident artist from October 7-12 in Hannaher’s Print Studio.
The public is also invited to join Seals and Cox on Wednesday, October 9 at 6:00 pm for an Artist Talk where they will discuss their work in (Un)Common Threads.
(Un)Common Threads is made possible thanks to the support of our generous PlainsArt4All members and donors. Additional support provided by The McKnight Foundation, Bush Foundation, The Arts Partnership, The FUNd at Plains Art Museum, and the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funds from the North Dakota Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Katy Seals (b. 1985) received her BFA from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and her MFA from the University of Oklahoma. Seals has exhibited her work in China and throughout the United States and is collected by the Harvard Museum of Art. Seals served as Assistant Professor of Printmaking and Drawing at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma and currently resides in Austin, Texas.
John Charles Cox (b. 1982) received his BFA from the University of Minnesota and earned his MFA with an emphasis on painting from the University of South Dakota. Cox has exhibited his work internationally, participating in over 100 regional, national, and international exhibitions. He is currently an Instructor of Visual Arts at M State in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo. For more information about visiting or supporting your art museum, visit plainsart.org.
Contact: Andrew J. Maus, Director & CEO, 701.551.6123, amaus@plainsart.org
Plains Art Museum to Exhibit Regional and International Artists Together in Fueling Modernity: A Cross-National Collaboration
Press Release
For Immediate Release (September 2019)
Fargo, N.D. Plains Art Museum is pleased to announce the substantial and unique exhibition, Fueling Modernity, featuring the work of American photographer Meghan Kirkwood and South African mixed media artist Jeannette Unite. The exhibition will be on display from September 19, 2019 – January 5, 2020 in the Starion Gallery located in the Museum’s Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity.
Fueling Modernity presents a comparative examination of industrial landscapes through Kirkwood’s documentary photographs and Unite’s mixed media artworks. Both exhibiting artists have resided in regions that have been reshaped in response to natural resource extraction—in Western Cape, South Africa and in North Dakota. Rather than advance a specific political message, images from the artists aim to interrogate the way in which energy production has introduced new forms into the landscape and transformed rural communities. Posed as a conversation, the exhibition identifies parallels and departures between the two regions and articulates a visual vocabulary of industrial impacts.
The exhibition will also feature a cross-national, and free, artist talk between the artists on Thursday November 7 at 6:00 pm. In addition, Kirkwood will lead a two-session drone photography class on Saturday November 9 from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm and 1:30 – 5:00 pm respectively. Workshop cost is $175 general public or $140 for members per session.
Jeannette Unite (b. 1964) earned an MFA from Michaelis School of Art in Cape Town and has exhibited her work throughout Africa, Europe, and North America. Throughout her career, Unite has collaborated with earth scientists and other researches, such as the Department of Earth Sciences, Oxford University and Oxford University Museum, and has exhibited work from these collaborations through the United Nations. Unite currently resides in Cape Town, South Africa.
Meghan Kirkwood (b. 1981) earned a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in Photography before completing her MFA in Studio Art at Tulane University and PhD at the University of Florida. She has received numerous fellowships, including the National Parks Service, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Lakeside Lab (Iowa). Kirkwood’s photography has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe, and South Africa. Kirkwood is a native New Englander, and currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
Plains Art Museum is the largest art museum in the Dakotas and Western Minnesota and is general admission free thanks to strong and growing support from over 800 households and businesses. The Museum manages a permanent collection of over 4,000 objects, organizes and presents dozens of annual exhibitions, facilitates public art projects, and leads over 200 educational programs and experiences for all ages each year. The Museum, and its Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Center for Creativity, is located at 704 First Avenue North in downtown Fargo. For more information about visiting or supporting your art museum, visit plainsart.org.
Contact: Andrew J. Maus, Director & CEO, 701.551.6123, amaus@plainsart.org