Contact: John Addison, 505-992-0711 July 17, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rose B. Simpson: Finding Center
August 9 – 31, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 9, 5-7 pm
Indian Market Reception: Friday, August 22, 5-7 pm
Santa Fe, NM – Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art presents our featured solo exhibition of the summer, Rose B. Simpson: Finding Center, on view August 9 – 31 with opening reception Saturday, August 9, 5-7 pm and Indian Market weekend reception, Friday, August 22, 5-7 pm.
Rose B. Simpson (Santa Clara) takes the next step in her artistic quest with just under twenty new works exploring familiar themes of personal and cultural identity. Titled Finding Center Simpson explains:
“Finding self is a journey within, and a journey without. This ever-transforming conscious path through identity, worth, empowerment, and clarity is the essence of life itself. My recent works are reflections of this process, demonstrating perspectives and options by reclaiming materials while noticing the energy these add to identifying an empowered self. Centered, I stand ready. Empowered, any challenge is not overcome.”
With the heavily adorned ceramic figure as her primary vehicle, Simpson explores different sides of herself as a contemporary Native artist. At the heart of the exhibition stand five life-size ceramic torsos. Their combined presence is palpable, with a powerful, yet peaceful posture. The heavy adornment is a combination of protective “armor,” juxtaposed with the tenderness of smooth, soft, white deer hide. Strips of fabric and mixed media, found and created, cover the bodies and transform them into complex figures that make a statement and ask a question at the same time.
Simpson’s ceramic figures are central to the exhibition, but, her spirit of innovation and experimentation always close at hand, the show continues with a collaboration of fine art photography documenting Simpson’s most recent low-rider restoration. A labor of love, the exquisite automobile demanded to be a part of the show, as all the artwork was created at the same time as the low-rider project. Simpson also revisits a familiar theme from her 2011 Thesis exhibition with three life-sized Return of Saturn heads which relate back to 2011’s 28 palm-sized heads installation.
This is Rose B. Simpson’s fourth solo exhibition at Chiaroscuro, with each show distinctly different from the next. With Simpson, the opportunity to create a new body of work is cherished and viewed as a jumping off point – Finding Center is no exception.
Rose B. Simpson: Finding Center
August 9 – 31, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 9, 5-7 pm
Indian Market Reception: Friday, August 22, 5-7 pm
Location: 702 ½ Canyon Road on Gypsy Alley, Santa Fe, NM 87501, 505-992-0711, gallery@chiaroscurosantafe.com