University Galleries of Illinois State University is pleased to announce the opening of Claire Ashley: Cawt, Taut, Hot …. Not.
Claire Ashley: Cawt, Taut, Hot …. Not
- On view: May 21 through September 11, 2016
- Closing reception: Friday, September 9, 2016, from 5–7 p.m.
- Performance at Uptown Normal’s roundabout: Friday, September 9, 2016, at 6 p.m.
- The exhibit, closing reception, and performance are all free and open to the public.
Claire Ashley’s two-gallery installation immerses visitors in a multisensory landscape packed with DayGlo-colored pneumatic sculptures. Composed of spray-painted plastic tarps, these billowing forms often approach floor-to-ceiling scale. Ashley subverts their heroic size, however, with a sense of the absurd: multicolored painterly marks embellish the sculptures’ taut, membrane-like surfaces, rendering them as bloated, cartoony organisms. The captivating walk-through environment they form en masse is sonically enhanced by an ambient soundscape by performance artist and musician Joshua Patterson.
During the exhibition’s closing reception, five of Ashley’s sculptures will come alive in an outdoor performance at Uptown Normal’s scenic roundabout. Powered by student performers sealed inside, the colorful organ-like forms will transform the roundabout into a surreal dance floor as they frolic in response to a live audio piece played by Patterson.
Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Ashley currently lives in Oak Park and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Contemporary Practices. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions, site-specific installations, and performances at venues that include Cleve Carney Art Gallery; College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn; Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Portland; Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago; The Tetley, Leeds, England; and Highland Institute for Contemporary Art, Inverness, Scotland. Ashley received her M.F.A from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her B.F.A from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland. She is represented by Galleri Urbane Marfa + Dallas, Texas.
This project is organized by University Galleries’ Curator Jason Judd.
University Galleries is located at Uptown Station at the corner of Beaufort and Broadway. Parking is available directly above, and the first hour is free. All events at University Galleries are free.
If you need special accommodations to participate in any event, please contact University Galleries at (309) 438-5487 or gallery@ilstu.edu. Please allow sufficient time to arrange the accommodation.
