Shadows

February 12, 2022 - March 26, 2022

Curated by Shilpi Chandra

Tara Sabharwal - 7 Wounds (2014) Watercolor and gold on yuppo paper, 11x14"

Shadows features the works of Elizabeth Knowles, Nate Lewis, Sa’dia Rehman, Tara Sabharwal, Mona Kamal Saeed, Madhvi Subrahmanian, Tansy Xiao, and Yeon Ji Yoo. The eight artists incorporate the physical and psychological dimensions of shadows – dark versus light – with each reflecting a different understanding of shadows both thematically and artistically. As a result, the selected artworks in Shadows communicate a new way to experience the beauty of shadows.

Curator Shilpi Chandra explores the idea of visibility and what is made hyper-visible through incorporation into its shadows and what remains hidden because they are not transmitted through the shadows.

EVENTS

Opening Reception February 12th, 2:00-4:00pm

The opening reception for Shadows will take place Saturday, February 12 from 2:00-4:00pm at Pelham Art Center. This event is free and open to the public.

Virtual Exhibition Viewing & Artist Discussion March 2nd, 5:00-7:00pm

Attend an exhibition walkthrough and discussion on Zoom with the curator and artists of Shadows . Free and open to all.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Priscilla Jeong’s works ponder the temporality and vulnerability of materials. Like an ancient sundial, her sculptural piece The Archer captures natural light in the gallery, casting dramatic shadows that become dynamic extensions of the artwork as they move across the gallery during the course of the day.

Mona Kamal – Goddess Series: Kali (2021), 4’ x 6’, Paper Cut Painted with Acrylic.

In her multi-media installation, Mona Kamal Saeed uses negative space as a visual device and a central narrative. Shadows within her intricate papercuts emphasize the artist’s desire to directly confront personal and cultural experiences by raising questions about religion, conflict, borders, and identity.

Shadows become marks in Madhvi Subrahmanian’s photos of chalk and ink works on the sidewalks of New York City. In her Walk and Chew Gum series, these marks offer a contradistinction between the gridded containment of the city and the many expressions of constant change and movement.

Installation artist Elizabeth Knowles uses X-Ray images to create her site-specific three-dimensional work Night Vision. Just as X-rays send ultravisible light through the body to reveal the shadows of internal structures, the artist exposes dynamic patterns of physiology, life and death.

The darkness of militarist annihilation and the lightness of delicate papercut coincide in Sa’dia Rehman’s installation War Zone 1. Warplanes and drones appear as burnt forms in the paper, creating a shadowscape around the work echoing the artist’s impressions of chaos and suffering.

Sa’dia Rehman – War Zone 1 (2021), Ink on Paper.

Nate Lewis portrays the unseen patterns and tensions within society. By altering photographs, the artist uses distortion and illusion to uncover and challenge perspectives on race, history, and the shadows of humanity.

Tara Sabharwal’s nonfigurative works approach the mind with attention to its uncanny and shadow aspects. Layers of subconscious take form through color and composition, shedding light on opaque or unsettling internal dimensions.

The imagery in Tansy Xiao’s Bone and Air blends states of dream and reality. Using a language of symbols associated with danger or mystery along with interactive instructions for the viewer, the digital piece is an experience of suspension and free-association in the shadow psyche.