Amanda Agricola, Aguas Vivas, 2017, birch plywood, canvas, dirt, two panels 1 x 2 feet. Courtesy of VisArts..
Opening Reception: Friday, May 4 from 6pm to 9 pm
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Amanda Agricola: Colere
April 27 – May 27, 2018
Gibbs Street Gallery
Mud Dyeing Workshop with Amanda Agricola: May 19 from 12pm to 4pm
Featuring carved maps from locations with treasure myths, earth prints and quilts from site dirt, and documents from her journey in augmented reality, Amanda Agricola’s solo exhibition explores the significance of the impact of treasure-hunting and resource development.
Searching for buried treasure is a search for a connection to myth, the land, and self. For this exhibition, Amanda Agricola traveled to locations with treasure myths and interviewed people who have experiences digging for said treasures. What started as a quest for treasure stories quickly turned to an investigation into mankind’s tendency towards violent acquisition and demolition of land. She created CNCed maps from sections of landscapes with precious resources and painful pasts. The CNC machine traces specific areas of the map, digging into the plywood revealing hidden layers within the wood. As it delves deeper into the wood, possible blemishes and flaws are revealed as well as hidden beauty in the grains beneath the surface of the ply. She imagines a future where there is nothing left to mine; these replicas of terrains with embedded cryptocurrency mining computers are all that we have left.
Whole civilizations have been melted down to ingots and swallowed, forever lost in the belly of greed and desire. These works reflect on histories of colonization of lands caught in the crossfire of man’s thirst for power and material possession. Using dyes made from soils collected from these sites, she hand-made earth prints which serve as the palls that cover the urns of said lands, as if preparing the funerary rites of the earth. Texts, images, videos, and discoveries made along the way are embedded in the palls and earth quilts which can be discovered by the viewer in augmented reality through the use of their phone by accessing the artist’s website.
About the artist: Amanda Agricola grew up in the dirt in North Alabama, graduated with my B.A. in Studio Art from Hollins University in 2011 and received an M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute of Art (MICA) in 2015. She has shown her work locally, and regionally from Roanoke College in Roanoke, Virginia, to Maryland Art Place in Baltimore, and Panoply Gallery in Brooklyn. My work was also recently featured in the web-based New York gallery – SciArt Center. www.amandaagricola.com
Grant McFarland, Voyager, 2018, pine. Courtesy of VisArts.Grant McFarland: Voyager
April 27 – May 27, 2018
Common Ground Gallery
Voyager explores how the life cycle of individuals and their possessions are entwined. Objects accompany their owners through time assuming a variety of roles as useful tools, hoarded junk, or valuable collections. Voyager is a symbolic funeral and a sculptural requiem for the things that humans make, accumulate, move around, pile up, and leave behind as symbols of endurance, commodity culture, and waste.
Voyager, a solo exhibition of new sculpture by Grant McFarland, explores how the life cycle of individuals and their possessions are entwined. McFarland constructs a sculptural requiem for the things born out of a commodity culture. Possessions accompany their owners through time assuming a variety of roles as useful tools, hoarded junk, or valuable collections. Voyager is a symbolic funeral for the things that we make, accumulate, move around, pile up, and leave behind as symbols of endurance, but also of waste.
About the artist: Grant McFarland is a Maryland born, Washington DC based sculptor who graduated from University of Maryland in 2016 with a B.A. in studio art. He participated in the UMD Art Honors program and recently worked as a resident artist at Salem Art Works in Salem, New York. He has shown at 39th Street Gallery in Hyattsville, Maryland, the Stamp Student Union Gallery on campus at the University of Maryland, and McClean Project for the Arts in McClean, Virginia. His current work is concerned with asking questions of perception, interior and exterior in relation to inference and knowledge of the built environment. www.grantmcfarland.com
Photo courtesy of VisArts.VisArts Studio Artists
May 4 – June 3, 2018
Concourse Gallery
Group exhibition featuring new work by VisArts’ Studio Artists: Nanette Bevan, Bertrand Mao, and Xiaosheng Bi.
The VisArts Studio Artist Program offers opportunities for selected artists to have a subsidized studio at VisArts. The program serves as a catalyst for conversation, education, professional development, and creative interactions. Three different studio options allow artists time and space to create.
About the VisArts Studio Artists Program: The VisArts Studio Artist Program offers opportunities for selected artists to have a subsidized studio at VisArts. The program serves as a catalyst for conversation, education, professional development, and creative interactions. Three different studio options allow artists time and space to create. For more information: https://www.visartsatrockville.org/more/studio-artists/
Gallery Hours:
- Wednesday & Thursday: 12 – 4pm
- Friday: 12 – 8pm
- Saturday & Sunday: 12 – 4pm
VisArts at Rockville is located three blocks from the Rockville Metro station at 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD. For information, please visit www.visartscenter.org or call 301-315-8200.
