Shibui Paintings - Georges Le Chevallier

Shibui Paintings

Georges Le Chevallier
November 1-23

ARTIST BIO

The youngest son of a French father and a Puerto Rican mother, Georges Le Chevallier was born in Paris, France, and grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He studied painting at the prestigious “Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando” in Madrid, received a BFA degree from California State University at Long Beach and a MFA degree from Hunter College in New York City.

Georges Le Chevallier had his first major solo exhibition 25 years ago, and since then his mixed-media paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally in distinguished galleries and museums such as: The Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia, Green Hill in Greensboro, Central Gallery in Budapest, El Museo del Barrio in New York City, El Museo de las Americas in San Juan, Yamanashi Museum in Japan, and Centro Cultural de Lavapies in Madrid. Not only he is a prolific painter, but he has also created multiple public art installations throughout the USA, Mexico, Hungary, Tanzania, France, Guatemala, and Chile. 

Le Chevallier also has over 15 years of bi-lingual teaching experience as a University Professor.

The Protest Purse

THE PROTEST PURSE

by Kulsum Tasnif
photography by Caroline Cockrell

Exhibition: May 4 - June 16, 2018
Artist Talk: May 5th, 4-6pm
First Friday: May 4th, 6-10pm & June 1st, 6-10pm

Project Statement
For the past months I immersed myself in stories of Muslim women, learning what inspires us to resist and to exist in these times of national chaos, global catastrophes, and day to day struggles. My resistance purses are portraits of contemporary human struggles and triumphs. They are empowering, bold, and collaborative, fueled by our collective passions; they serve as a documentation of an era in which voices are silenced, yet, remaining silent is not an option. This is an ongoing project that seeks to re-contextualize how we view protest, and allows insight into the hearts and minds of a diverse community of women. And I couldn't have thought of a better partner than photographer-friend Caroline Cockrell to join me on this journey called The Protest Purse.

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THE LAB is sponsored by Allen Tate Realtors

Sleight of Hand

SLEIGHT of HAND
a collaboration

Addison Brown | Brooke Caudle | Heidi Kirkpatrick | Tobia Makover | Lori Vrba

Exhibition: October 6-26, 2017
Opening Reception: October 6, 6-10pm

Project Statement

An exhibition of photo-based object works where each piece requires a physical action from the viewer to be fully experienced.  This art is made to be touched.  The exhibition features the one-of-a-kind assemblage and installation pieces by Addison Brown, Brooke Caudle, Heidi Kirkpatrick, Tobia Makover, and Lori Vrba. 

indelible marks: what we’ve been, or might, or never will

indelible marks: what we’ve been, or might, or never will
Eliza Kiser | Emily Malpass

August 4-24, 2017
Opening Reception: August 4, 6-10pm
 

Project Statement:
When we see the word “collaboration,” we think of each other. Throughout changes to our families, identities and approaches to art-making over the last four years, we continue to share ideas and dream of our future as artists and friends. The work you see around you is our attempt at using our art-making to work through the questions and struggles in our lives at this moment, and to explore ideas about the identities and veneers we have worn, shed, cultivated, lost, clung to, or will never experience.

Recurring dream

RECURRING DREAM

Katie Byrum | Jade Hoyer

July 7 - 27, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, July 7, 6-10pm

Project Statement:
Recurring dream is collaboration between poet Katie Byrum (Brooklyn, NY), and visual artist Jade Hoyer (Minneapolis, MN). Byrum’s poem, To the River House (recurring dream), is a poignant work on coming-of-age, of quiet hometowns and nostalgia. Inspired by Byrum’s work, Hoyer addresses these ideas through printmaking (woodcut and silkscreen) and installation.

HUNG

June 2 - 22, 2017
Opening Reception: June 2, 6-10pm
 

Project Statement

Liz Kelly and Sarah Tector have come together in this collaborative effort to explore their mutuality while pushing each other towards new ideas. Tector is known for her clean, geometric and architecturally influenced jewelry and Kelly for her elegant and strong functional pottery. Turning their attention towards home adornment, H U N G explores pendant lighting and functional wall pieces. This exhibit reflects a partnership of craftspeople exploring new processes and each other’s visual language.

The Lived Body

Can I Keep You by Erin Canady

The Lived Body
Subverbal Collective

May 5-25, 2017
First Friday Reception: May 5, 6-10 pm

“My body is my point of view on the world not just another object in the world.”
-Merleau-Ponty

In this group exhibition six artists have chosen to engage with Merleau-Ponty’s notion of der Leib or the body as lived body. As a phenomenologist, Merleau-Ponty sought to describe the world of human experience and to describe the world as experience.

One essential structure of human existence for his view is the body. For Merleau-Ponty, the body was not merely an anatomical physical object in the world (der Körper) but a necessary part of the order and the structure of existence. It is how humans engage with the world and how knowledge is directly acquired. The body also organizes and structures our phenomenological knowledge of being a being-in-the-world.

In this exhibition we engage with this notion of the body in six unique ways.

SUBVERBAL COLLECTIVE IS AN ARTS COLLECTIVE BASED OUT OF THE RALEIGH/DURHAM AREA OF NORTH CAROLINA. FOUNDED IN 2016 BY SIX VISUAL ARTISTS WHO ARE CURRENT AND RECENT GRADUATES OF UNC'S MFA PROGRAM, SUBVERBAL SEEKS TO PROVIDE A SPACE FOR CRITIQUE, DIALOGUE, AND COMMUNITY. 

Off Route Journals

Off Route Journals

presented by Betsy Peters Rascoe, Mike Cindric, & Sam Cox

Join us as we celebrate the unique people and landscapes of Eastern North Carolina.

April 7 - 27, 2017
Opening Reception: April 7, 6-10pm

Project Statement

North Carolina’s coastal plain has a fertile landscape and rich agricultural and cultural history. Yet, the counties between Interstate 95 and the coast remain a blank spot on many North Carolinians’ mental maps. Most experience the region as a blur of pine trees, fields, and gas stations as they rush towards the beach. What can we learn by slowing down and engaging Eastern North Carolina in a conversation on its own terms?

Click here to continue following the conversation on Facebook.

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interface I Ely Urbanski

interface

Ely Urbanski
February 3 - 23, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, February 2, 6-10pm

Project Statement

I have been collecting clothes from friends, family and my previous exhibitions visitors. These clothes are the matrices for my monoprints on fabric. Most of the clothes have a story, they were worn for a long time, the person who owned the clothes had an emotional attachment to it, they only used them in special occasions, etc. What I noticed is that those clothes have one thing in common: they are stories of relationships. A material reminder of an interaction with a living person, with someone they missed or a particular situation in their lives.

I believe that what I transfer to the substrate (a piece of fabric, a reclaimed sheet) is not only the material image but also part of the memory|energy of the clothes and their owners|users.

Our bodies, like pieces of clothes come in different fashions, colors, patterns, but the invisible part of our beings are made of the same common raw material and manifests itself through our positive or negative actions.

As it is invisible, we may not notice it at first glance, but if we take the time to focus on a conversation, a story, actions|behaviors we may start seeing the character of a body. The same way, if you allow yourself to see the invisible part of my works you may picture the memories, the stories, the interface.

About Ely Urbanski

Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. Her father a photographer and her mother a dressmaker, influences seen in her works. Ely studied Art Education at the University of São Paulo where she studied with well-known printmaker Evandro Carlos Jardim.

From 1993-1995 she lived in Tokyo. Returning to São Paulo she started a series of works on fabrics, using sewing and drawing as an attempt to add trip memories and experiences to her prints.

From 2005-2011 she lived in Suzuka, Japan. During this period she developed a series of prints where the matrices were articles of clothing. Because of the lack of equipment, she used her own weight as the pressing instrument. During this time she participated in several group exhibitions and had her own solo show in Suzuka.

After the earthquake of 2011 in Japan, she decided to return to Brazil.
Back in Brazil and trying to rebuild her life she met her future husband online. In December of 2013, she arrived in North Carolina and became Ely Urbanski in January 2014.

Ely has been developing her art in Snow Camp, N.C. She creates prints on paper (monoprints, woodcuts).Other projects use clothes as matrices for her prints. Most of them are donations from friends or her exhibition visitors. Some of the donors participate in video recordings where they talk about the stories behind the clothes they donated. Interacting with the local community has been an important part of her creative process.
 

If you would like to participate in the exhibition, Ely Urbanski will be collecting clothes and recording interviews at VAE on the following dates:

2/4 (Sat) 12-4pm
2/8 (Wed) 3-6 pm
2/10 (Fri) 3-6 pm
2/11 (Sat) 12-3 pm
2/16 (Thu) 11am-3pm
2/18 (Sat) 12-4pm
2/22 (Wed) 11-2pm
2/23 (Thu) 3-6 pm

Dreams Deferred

Dreams Deferred  

A community art project inspired by Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem"
Documented by Ariyah April & Veronique Moses  

January 6-26, 2017
Opening Reception: January 6th, 6-10pm
First Friday Do-Over: January 13th, 6-10pm

Artist Talk: January 21st, 11am
Join Ariyah & Veronique for a casual conversation with opportunities to ask questions of some of their photo subjects: Mr. Henry "Hank" Williamson; Lea Salas; Sonja Matheny; Tavi Hawn; Mark Alkins; and Anuragini Barman.

Harlem
by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore-
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-
like a syrup sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Project Statement:

Magic marked in ink are the uncurbed dreams of a child, “when I grow up, I want to be a doctor, fashion designer, track star, a mother.” Our dreams evolve as we move through life, some remaining constant and others fading into time. As an adult, we may reconcile that there are no gold medals on the shelves or open-heart surgeries on the calendar, but what happens to the elusive dream that remains close and fleeting?   

“Dreams Deferred,” titled from Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” is a photography-and writing-based storytelling project examining what becomes of a dream and the people behind them. It invites the viewer to bear witness externally, and to reflect internally. “Dreams Deferred” is a collaboration between two local photographers, Ariyah April and Veronique Moses, with the local community.   

In his poem “Harlem,” Hughes asks: “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—and then run?” April and Moses explore whether lifelong dreams chain us or lead us to hope.  

“Dreams Deferred” profiles six dreamers analyzing their own big wins and big losses. No matter the circumstances or perceived external differences between them— and the viewers— the gut-survival need for dreaming is evident. With thought on their own elusive dream, dreamers set out to answer Hughes’ poignant question and to further identify their dreams with one of the potential scenarios Hughes leave us with. Moses and April have posed their six dreamers in a dual documentary portraiture reflecting both the weight and hope of such dreams and visually inspecting Hughes’ six potential scenarios.  

Alongside the profiles, “Dreams Deferred” features an interactive and evolving installation collecting the community's contributions over the course of the exhibit. All visitors are encouraged to record their own dreams on a piece of the installation, allowing them to (anonymously or not) speak their truths, share and reaffirm them. The community art piece symbolizing dreams still in flight signifies our collective dreams and strikes a profound statement about interconnection.     

April and Moses are emerging documentary artists impassioned to continually share the stories of those whose voices often go unheard and undocumented. Their own experiences serve as the driving forces to expand this contextual lens aimed at frankly removing the perceived barriers around us.  

“Dreams Deferred” embody the same humility and servitude when it comes to depicting the realities of its dreamers. The hope is that participants leave the exhibit with insights into their fellow humankind, as well as a sparked ignition for driving their own lives.

THE LAB: Separation & In Between

Separation & In Between
Jan-Ru Wan
accompanied by Jody Casselly + Jude Casseday

October 7-27, 2016
Opening Reception: October 7, 6-10 pm

Our hair is highly personal and yet universal. Hair is a marker of our identity—of our current self and of our desired self in that it can easily be altered in color and style. Hair is part of our body and yet we purposefully dispose of it, leaving behind pieces and strands in public places like barbershops and salons.

For over two years Jan-Ru Wan gathered discarded hair from salons around the world (Arnhem, Netherlands; Taipei, Taiwan; Cary, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina) to create this installation, which speaks to global migration and culture.

Separation can refer to the hair physically separated from our body or to the emotional separation from our love ones. It can also refer to the separation from our past cultural identity that occurs when we are immersed in the global melting pot. 

Here, DNA from countless hair samples from strangers across the globe have been combined by chance and stitched into printed silk pouches. Within each pouch, one person’s DNA intermixes with others, blending numerous identities into one piece to represent this global and confusing world.

For my late father: The moment you left me our identities and destinies changed. We now have infinite space in between us, a constant that pushes us apart and yet draws close our hearts. The moment you separated from my body you took on a new adventure and a new identity, but here I am without you, my old memories combining with fresh ones.

THE LAB: Portraits of Percussion

Portraits of Percussion
by Lyudmila Tomova & Gregory Whitt

September 2-22, 2016
Opening Reception: September 2nd, 6-10pm

CREATIVELY CONNECTING PEOPLE.  To art.  To ideas.  To others.  That’s the idea, but in an art gallery there’s some invisible line that separates people from the work.  You may not see it, but you know it’s there.

“LOOK, DON’T TOUCH”; You’ve heard it your whole life.  Lyudmila Tomova and Greg Whitt want to challenge that in VAE’s LAB where they’ll inspire participants rather than patrons.

Greg will facilitate interactive music experiences using percussion.  You don’t need any experience to join his band.  Within minutes, you’re creating the groove, in rhythm and harmony with everyone around you.  

Lyudmila’s talent and speed with water colors capture the moment.  No photography here — real paint and brushes flying across the page create portraits and cover art that gets pinned to the wall — right here, right now.  

You’re not listening to the music.  You’re making it.  

You’re not looking at art. You’re the subject.  

We’re the artists, and you’re working with us.

Collaborators.

 

ARTIST BIOS

Lyudmila Tomova is a rising star on the Triangle, North Carolina art scene. Her recent watercolors have attracted much attention locally, nationally and internationally with the expressive brushwork, color, line and a stylized flair that emphasize movement bringing the images to life. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her masterfully executed work which uniquely merges abstract and realistic elements together creating mood and energy.

Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, Lyudmila immigrated to the US twenty five years ago and lived in New York City being a full time painter, editorial illustrator and designer, exhibiting nationally and abroad. Her strong education in Classical realism from the Sofia’s Academy of Fine Arts and later from FIT in New York where she studied Illustration, as well as her diverse artistic experience of over 20 years has helped her establish herself as one of the most versatile and prolific artist in the Triangle. She was recently nominated as an Emerging Woman 2016 and was personally recognized at the NC Museum of Art where the first of her “Butterfly Women” series was unveiled.

Her work was recently juried into the 1st International Watercolor Society Biennale in Vancouver, Canada and the 41st Annual Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Exhibition in Denver, Colorado. She was also accepted into the North Light Books’ latest watercolor competition Splash 18: Value | Light + Dark.

Greg Whitt believes life is richer when we communicate, cooperate, and collaborate with one another and with the world around us.  Because he believes this, he facilitates programs to help people live, work, and play well together.  He works with people -- in corporations, congregations, communities, and classrooms -- for the sake of creating more-meaningful connections.  He just happens to do it with a van full of drums and percussion from around the planet, bringing them to your place so that everyone can join in.

Greg owns a team building and arts education consultancy called Drum for Change. He's a world traveler learning from cultures across the planet.  Greg has twice received Regional Artist Project Grants for folkloric study of music of the African diaspora in the Caribbean.  His programs are actually applied philosophy designed to highlight indigenous values. Concepts like balance, celebration, connection to nature, gratitude, inclusion, positivity, respect, ritual, service to others, and unity all serve as positive examples for healthy, happy, and productive lifestyles for modern society.  

Greg holds a graduate certificate in Transformative Leadership from the Maryland University of Integrative Health and a BA in Communication from North Carolina State University. His experience as a US Air Force veteran makes him a uniquely qualified speaker on leadership and teamwork.  Greg has been facilitating interactive rhythm programs since 2001.