Bruno David Gallery: Saturday, 30 January 2021

 BUZZ SPECTOR: Paper made and unmade
CHARLES SCHWALL: Sea Lover
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective WADE: Media Room
Exhibition Dates: January 30 – March 13, 2021

Due to the pandemic, the Opening Reception will be Saturday, January 30th, from 2 to 8 pm.

This new exhibit at Bruno David Gallery, brings together Buzz Spector’s torn paper works from the 1990s, including the series, Painting, and selected Author works, with recent works of handmade paper produced at three studios over the past three years; Megan Singleton in St. Louis, Helen Frederick in Silver Springs, MD, and Joan Hall in Jamestown, RI. The handmade paper works have not previously been exhibited.

Sea Lover is an exhibition by Kansas City-based artistCharles Schwall. It is an exploration of two material languages, paint and textiles; the exhibition is comprised of large canvas paintings and sewn fabric appliqué pieces. By placing these two material languages (two material bodies of knowledge) in conversation with one another, the work investigates concepts of surface, gendered space, fluidity, and overall softness. The aesthetic trajectory in the work is one of openness, growth, the expansion of organic systems, and morphology. The conversation between paint and textiles occurs in various ways, such as painted forms that depict cloth, pattern, and textiles; use and reference of the vocabulary of sewing, such as folding and creasing, seaming, tucks, and pleats; and a semi-transparent use color, similar to a veil of fabric, in that it simultaneously hides and reveals. Many of the works also explore fabric’s innate water-like quality, such as the way cloth moves, ruffles, and twists in space. The title of the Sea Lover exhibition is inspired by concepts from French philosopher Luce Irigaray, who explores the complex, and sometimes controversial, relationship that exists between the feminine and the fluid. In this sense, the Sea Lover exhibition interrogates and critiques modernist structures through the point of view of water. In the paintings, organic forms break open, spill forward, and emerge from either the center or the outside edge of the picture plane. Shapes and patterns break free and/or split apart; fold inward and/or wrap around; and open in ways that evoke the growth or birth process. There is interaction of various parts, yet emptiness remains central to the picture plane of each canvas. The work seeks to create places of openness, of a relation to the other; a generative place where birth and rebirth can continuously prevail. Through these visual actions, the works embody a womb-space, a gendered space that reveals possibilities of multiple states of transition.

Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective creates original works of art through a collaborative process. Through non-violent collective action, artists work with 16-24-year-old urban youth to create systemic social change. Story Stitchers collect local stories, reframe, and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships, and literacy. The video WADE in the Media Room comments on the history, endurance, and fellowship of St. Louis’s African American citizens. The purpose for all Story Stitchers programs is to promote a better educated, more peaceful and caring region through storytelling. A core creative group of professional artists and African American youth generate original work through a unique form of “urban storytelling” that includes hip hop, spoken word, photography and videography and disseminate new works through public presentations and performances. The Collective’s body of work focuses on gun violence prevention and topics related to public health issues including education on safe practices during the Covid-19 pandemic. Story Stitchers’ programs are driven by the interests and concerns of low-income, black youth and as a result have focused on gun violence since 2014. Gun violence is a pressing public health crisis that consumes the attention of the engaged youth. Youth can work through their pain and loss and be a force multiplier, impacting families, schools and neighborhoods. Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective piece WADE is a work from the multi-year project entitled, The WHY of MY City. The WHY of MY City captures and documents black history through written word and art and gives audiences insight into neighbors’ lives. (5:48 minutes, one-channel color video with sound)

Public Hours Tuesday - Friday 11 - 6 pm, Saturday 11 - 5 pm and open by appointment. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Bruno David Gallery
7513 Forsyth Boulevard
Saint Louis, MO 63105
info@brunodavidgallery.com
brunodavidgallery.com
314.696.2377