Painting and performance the focus of two new Anchorage Museum exhibitions
January 22, 2015
High-res jpegs are available in the online media room at anchoragemuseum.org
“Perceptions” and “It Could Go Either Way” open Friday, Jan. 30
Two new exhibitions exploring the boundaries of painting and performance art open at the Anchorage Museum Friday, Jan. 30. Alaska artist Ashley Lohr's solo exhibition, "Perceptions," and "It Could Go Either Way," a video installation by New York artists Marian Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly, each explore contemporary themes using diverse media.
Lohr is a painter in the classic sense. In her solo exhibition, “Perceptions,” she explores imagery, realism, abstraction, texture and light with new works in oil on canvas. Lohr is primarily interested in color and line, the overlapping of planes, the balance of light and shadow, and the manipulation of color. She explores interior spaces and structures in her work, highlighting the effects of light on surfaces. Digital photographs inspire her angles and compositions. Each painting suggests more than one space inhabiting the frame, an intentional disruption that leaves the viewer finding something unexpected in her crops, skews and stretched perspectives. Based in Petersburg, Alaska, Lohr is originally from Southern New Jersey and studied painting and drawing in Albany, New York, before moving to Alaska.
Meditations on landscape, the human condition, and the passage of time are presented in “It Could Go Either Way: Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly, “ a video installation that explores the idea of “performed places” and features the collaborative work of New York artists Mariam Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly.
Kelly is a dancer-choreographer interested in the body, movement and the transformative nature of performance. In 2006, she teamed with Ghani, an artist whose work often explores border zones, translations and political transitions. Their latest project, “It Could Go Either Way,” is the culmination of several films created over six years in unique architectural environments and geographical locales, including the Solitude Rotwildpark forest in Stuttgart Germany; a gutted McDonald's in midtown Manhattan; the Galisteo Valley of New Mexico; and areas in and around Kabul, Afghanistan. “It Could Go Either Way” is curated by former Anchorage resident Amy Mackie.
Artists on the Floor
6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30
Painter Ashley Lohr offers behind-the-scenes information about her solo exhibition, “Perceptions.” Former Anchorage resident Amy Mackie, who curated the “It Could Go Either Way: Marian Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly” video installation, also discusses her work with the exhibition and answers questions. Included with museum admission
“Perceptions: Ashley Lohr Solo Exhibition” and “It Could Go Either Way: Mariam Ghani + Erin Ellen Kelly” are on view Jan. 30 through March 1, 2015, at the Anchorage Museum.
"Perceptions" is part of the Patricia B. Wolf Solo Exhibition Series is presented with generous support from the Alaska State Council on the Arts; the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; the Municipality of Anchorage; and the Anchorage Museum Foundation’s Alaska Airlines Silver Anniversary Fund.
ANCHORAGE MUSEUM
The Anchorage Museum is the largest museum in Alaska and one of the top 10 most visited attractions in the state. The museum’s mission is to connect people, expand perspectives and encourage global dialogue about the North and its distinct environment.
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