The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) presents American Gothic: Aaron Spangler & Alison Elizabeth Taylor on view through August 21, 2011.

This two-person exhibition mines the connotations of wood as a contemporary artistic medium in the dialogue between Minnesota-based Aaron Spangler and Alabama-born, Brooklyn-based Alison Elizabeth Taylor. Marrying folk traditions, craft techniques and subject matter spanning rural exodus to utopian dreams, these young artists propose a renovated portrait of the American heartland. With large, intricate reliefs carved out of slabs of basswood, Spangler creates darkly comic visions of post-apocalyptic ruin. A slightly more monotonous, seedy world plays out in the veneer “paintings” of Taylor, who breathes new life into the inlay technique known as marquetry. In the process, both artists translate venerable Renaissance techniques into a vehicle to document the changing face of society’s fringes.

Organized by SECCA; Curated by Steven Matijcio.

Image: Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Era of Argus, 2007 Wood Veneer, Shellac Private Collection, North Carolina

Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
750 Marguerite Drive,
Winston-Salem, NC 27106
T: 336-725-1904
F: 336-722-6059
seccainfo@ncdcr.gov
www.secca.org

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3. Santa Monica Museum of Art Presents Al Taylor Wire Instruments and Pet Stains