The Arts Center at Duck Creek in Springs presents “and nothing turned itself inside-out,” a social media inspired multimedia installation by artist Ross Watts as well as “William King: Sculpture.” Both shows open with a reception on Sunday, June 12, and run through July 10.
ROSS WATTS: and nothing turned itself inside-out
The installation holds up a mirror to Watts’ experience — and arguably the experience of many of us — living through the strange times of a pandemic. Watts said, “This work evolved out of distraction. In the midst of the pandemic, scrolling, looking, liking became a daily ritual, bordering on addiction. In a precarious time where isolation was suddenly the norm, it became a way of connecting to the world outside.”
The resulting installation is comprised of a series of images in 3 x 3 grids, a large collage of 729 appropriated images, and a video of confounding variables setting out the process. It takes a conceptual approach to social media — exploring the ways Instagram’s grid format and the algorithm’s invisible hand have impacted our visual lexicon.
“and nothing turned itself inside-out” reflects on recurring themes in Watts’ work and in social media, including a fascination with mathematical composition and language, and a firm belief in an agonizing persistence toward “perfection” through repetition.
With this installation, Watts moves beyond a preoccupation with materials to a focus on meaning, influenced by Herman Hesse, Jorge Borges and contemporary appropriation artists. As a search for meaning in an infinite simulated landscape, the exhibition provides a kind of self portrait of the artist. But it also challenges viewers to ask their own questions about virtual culture, and how the images on display — appropriated from appropriations — derive their own new meanings from proximity to each other.
William King: Sculpture
A major figure in contemporary American sculpture, King was a
consistent presence in both the New York and East End arts communities for over six decades. A true vanguard, King bucked the trend of abstract expressionism, creating figurative works that for generations have been embraced for their unique humor and energy.
This exhibit will feature King’s carved wood and polychrome sculptures, which display the artist’s unique ability to depict humanity with great authenticity.
“The sculpture of William King is a sculpture of comic gesture. It is sculpture that choreographs a scenario of sociability, of conscious affections and unavowed pretensions, transforming the world of observed manners and unacknowledged motives into mimelike structures of comic revelation. Often very funny, sometimes acerbic, frequently satiric and touching at the same time, it is sculpture that draws from the vast repertory of socialized human gesture a very personal vocabulary of contemporary sculptural forms…” said Hilton Kramer, The Age of the Avant-Garde: An Art Chronicle of 1956-1972, 1973.
King was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and grew up in Coconut Grove, Miami. One of his earliest solo exhibitions was with the Alan Gallery, New York in 1954, and he continued to show in New York City through 2014. He received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the
National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Grant, the San Francisco Arts Commission Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sculpture, and Honorary Doctorates from the San Francisco Art
Institute, the California College of Arts and Crafts, and the Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C.
An opening reception for the shows will be held on Sunday, June 12, from 4 to 6 PM.