Substance Exhibition
Substance Exhibition
Pace University Art Gallery
September 27-October 30, 2021
New York, NY – The Pace University Art Gallery will open the in-person exhibition, “Substance,” on September 27, 2021. The exhibition brings together four abstract artists—Diego Anaya, Liz Atz, Linda Ekstrom, and Alberto Lule—who express meaning via their materials rather than through representational imagery.
The digital version of the exhibit, which opened in March 2021, also includes work by Adebunmi Gbadebo. The physical exhibit will be on public view through October 30, 2021. During the exhibit period, artists will also lead hybrid lectures or workshops. An in-person reception will be held on Friday, October 22 from 5p.m-7 p.m.*.
The following artists will be on exhibit:
Also included in the digital version of the “Substance” exhibit is artist Adebunmi Gbadebo, who represents identity and history in “Blues People,” by incorporating prints of historical documents onto paper embedded with Black hair. For the artist, Black hair is, “a material and a history in which to root my own work that positions the people who looked like me as central to my practice.” In so doing, she exposes the grim history of American slavery that has been erased by white-centric narratives and materials. She will give an online artist talk on Monday, October 18 at 11 a.m.
The “Substance” exhibit, which was originally scheduled for February 2021 and then re-imagined in a hybrid format including an artist residency, was curated by Sarah Cunningham, Pace University Art Gallery director/assistant clinical professor, with Samantha L. Smith, ‘21, gallery intern/research fellow. To support their work, they received the Provost’s Academic Year 2020-2021 Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research Award through the Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) at Pace.
The digital version of the exhibit, which opened in March 2021, also includes work by Adebunmi Gbadebo. The physical exhibit will be on public view through October 30, 2021. During the exhibit period, artists will also lead hybrid lectures or workshops. An in-person reception will be held on Friday, October 22 from 5p.m-7 p.m.*.
The following artists will be on exhibit:
- While Diego Anaya’s work is minimalist in imagery, he celebrates his Mexican heritage through the use of ground corn, corn ash, and sand with which he creates rough and uneven surfaces. The texture compels the viewer to examine the work closely, creating an immediate and intimate connection between the viewer and the artist.
- Liz Atz will recreate a large-scale window installation from a March 2021 artist residency on-site. Made of mushroom-based, fully biodegradable plastics, Atz’s bright, immersive artworks critique commercialism, materialism, and consumption. During the residency, Atz experimented further with chitosan—by casting, adding pigment, and laser cutting. She will offer an in-class bio-plastic workshop for Pace students.
- Linda Ekstrom’s works from her “Word” series use text from religious sources as a form of inspiration and commentary. Many of her artworks are made from altered pages of the Bible, which is representative of how Ekstrom explores feminist issues, particularly within the role of Jewish and Christian religious history, and tradition. Her work addresses the suppressed stories of women both in the Bible, and throughout art history, via the process of disassembling and then reassembling this book which has been used to inspire, divide, and control readers. She will offer an online zine-making workshop on Thursday, October 28 at 9 a.m. ET.
- Alberto Lule critiques and exposes the prison industrial complex in America as a form of modern slavery. His “Investigation” series offers insight to his experience as a formerly incarcerated person by using fingerprint powder—a tool used by police to prove someone was at the scene of a crime—as his drawing material. Lule reclaims his past, present, and future by using the dust to investigate the carceral system itself. He will give a hybrid artist talk, co-sponsored by the Criminal Justice Society, on Monday, October 25 at 12:10 p.m. ET.
Also included in the digital version of the “Substance” exhibit is artist Adebunmi Gbadebo, who represents identity and history in “Blues People,” by incorporating prints of historical documents onto paper embedded with Black hair. For the artist, Black hair is, “a material and a history in which to root my own work that positions the people who looked like me as central to my practice.” In so doing, she exposes the grim history of American slavery that has been erased by white-centric narratives and materials. She will give an online artist talk on Monday, October 18 at 11 a.m.
The “Substance” exhibit, which was originally scheduled for February 2021 and then re-imagined in a hybrid format including an artist residency, was curated by Sarah Cunningham, Pace University Art Gallery director/assistant clinical professor, with Samantha L. Smith, ‘21, gallery intern/research fellow. To support their work, they received the Provost’s Academic Year 2020-2021 Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research Award through the Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) at Pace.
Installation images by Adam Reich
