Intelligent Design

Sage Lewis
Sage Lewis

Lydia Badger
Lydia Badger

Carl Haase
Carl Haase

Lucinda Bliss
Lucinda Bliss


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Whitney Art Works presents
Intelligent Design

May 4 - June 9
Artist Reception: First Fridays, May 4 and June 1
Lucinda Bliss, Lydia Badger, Carl Haase, and Sage Lewis

This May at Whitney Art Works four artists make their respective debuts at 492 Congress St: Lydia Badger, Lucinda Bliss, Carl Haase and Sage Lewis.

Lydia Badger creates delicate dioramas that dramatically depict the drama of nature. Her sculptural installations present colorful, quirky, tense narratives that feature a menagerie of endangered birds, rodents and dinosaurs made of painted clay set in self-contained floating worlds.

Carl Haase will exhibit a series of letter press prints of line drawings of plastic beverage lids on circular paper. With these drawings Haase elevates the oft-overlooked beauty of industrial design that surrounds us every day. These prints will be available for purchase individually or as a set in a special edition carrying case.

Sage Lewis mixes handmade papers, paint and thread, juxtaposing formal elements of fabric and architecture in quiet abstraction. Linear plans for buildings and bridges are sewn delicately, made transparent, buried, and erased thus undermining their perceived purpose of strength. The act of embroidering, a very methodical and determined process, lays the ground for her strong and minimal engineered structures. In her own words, “These pieces have an inherent object-hood about them which is a fitting reflection of my intent; exploring the relationship between strength and weakness, uncertainty and integrity, and faith in the structures (however fragile they may be) that support our lives.”

Lucinda Bliss will present new works on paper. Her fine-lined drawings and colorful paintings explore ideas of communication and bodily protection with bewitching elegance. Bliss will also present a new series of altered books and a multimedia project exploring her recent discovery that she is a direct descendant of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Each of these four artists presents a remarkably unique conceptual project marked by a near-obsessive reverence for detail and craft. With a wild assortment of sculpture, drawing, fibers, and prints featuring everything from coffee lids to dinosaurs, Intelligent Design is a fresh blast of spring air sweetened with the pollen of creative exuberance.

also continuing at 492 - through May 12...
The Other Biennial at the Whitney....
featuring the work of Rob Lieber, Justin Richel, Henry Wolyniec, Eirene Efstathiou, and Joe Kievitt


Gallery Hours at 492 Congress Street:
Thursday - Saturday 12-6 PM
telephone: 207.774.7011

© Whitney Art Works, All Rights Reserved. 45 York Street, Portland, Maine 04101 Voice: 207-780-0700

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