BRATTLEBORO-Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts, 181 Main St., presents "Unmoored," an exhibition of new oil paintings on paper by Rona Lee Cohen. Also featured is a recent welded steel sculpture by Torin Porter, Parallel Forces.
An opening celebration and artists' reception is scheduled for Saturday, June 21, from 5 to 7 p.m. The shows will continue through Aug. 10.
"There is an invitation in the expressive arts to let go into an unformed, unbounded state, one that doesn't need to make sense," Cohen said, adding that she welcomes the invitation, "[leaning] into the drift to paint - the falling into rhythm, the stillness of nothing happening, the forcing of things forward, the noticing of the surprisingly strange mark, the painful pauses on empty, the too much, the not enough, the hoping for something."
Growing up, Porter spent his summers with the Bread and Puppet Theater and performed with the Momix dance company and the rock band Jane's Addiction. His small-scale steel sculpture reflects his "immediate understanding of the impact art and art-making have on everyone, old or young," said gallery representatives in a news release.
"I make sculpture because I am interested in engaging people in real-space, real-time interactions," Porter said. "I am drawn to forms that explore humanness as it exists in the imagination. Whether human figures are absent or present, I see an emphasis on humanity as the unifying aspect of my work-humanity as it relates to its inventions, to nature, and to itself. [...] When we look at something we are also looking at things that aren't physically there."
Cohen and Porter are "rare artists who respond to our sometimes abrasive and angry world with grace and humor," said gallery staff. "As they explore in their own imaginations, they leave us all with a measure of beauty, part of a complex narrative that unites us all."
The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 802-251-8290, email [email protected], or visit mitchellgiddingsfinearts.com.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.