In the Garden: a platform for artists, poets, and performers

In the Garden: a platform for artists, poets, and performers

January 18 – April 11, 2024

Stowe, Vermont – The Current is pleased to announce the opening of a new group exhibition, In The Garden: a platform for artists, poets, and performers. Within the walls of The Current, these artists present a disparate array of topics through work that uses the garden as a motif, setting the stage for connection and cultivation. Paradise comes from a Persian word for “walled garden,” traditionally a place for calm and reflection. In this setting, one is free to create anything imaginable, where truly anything can grow. Artists in this exhibition use the metaphor of a garden to address climate change, decolonization, feminism, societal tensions, and our endangered environment by presenting work on the topic. The installation of work surrounds a center “stage” for performance, poetry readings, and conversations throughout the exhibit.

Participating artists include Carlos Amorales, Cameron Davis, Wylie Garcia, Valerie Hammond, Mary Mattingly, Ebony G. Patterson, and Paul Anthony Smith.

Visitors to In The Garden: a platform for artists, poets, and performers will have the opportunity to explore Ebony G. Patterson’s dimensional imagery inspired by gardening in the tropics of Jamaica and “the garden as a place of survival and possibilities.” Valerie Hammond’s multimedia works play with the boundaries of the physical and spiritual, the conscious and the unconscious. In the Dreams Deferred series, titled after the Langston Hughes poem, Paul Anthony Smith depicts varied urban landscapes, each seemingly contained within single or double chain link fences. Mary Mattingly’s mysterious photographic garden series invites the viewer to imagine alternative futures, while Cameron Davis’ paintings prompt viewers to explore their perceived presence within and relationship to the living world. Paintings by Wylie Garcia use floral imagery relating to a wild untending of pleasurable pursuits at the expense of uncertainty. Carlos Amorales’ immersive installation of a swarm of moths and butterflies throughout the exhibition space is inspired by the annual migration of monarch butterflies from Canada to Mexico.

Public Programs:

The Current will be hosting monthly talks as part of the Currently Speaking series. Forthcoming programming will include a panel discussion with exhibiting artists, a group tour to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and speaker presentations on the topics of horticulture, ethnobotany, and biophilic design. Additional public events will include exhibition-related poetry readings, performances, and all-ages workshops. See website for updated information.

In the Garden: a platform for artists, poets, and performers is curated by Rachel Moore. For more information on these exhibitions and related events and travel inquiries, contact Kelly Holt: Gallery Manager, [email protected] |+1 802 253 8358.

Supporters of In the Garden include:

National Endowment for the Arts

The Oakland Foundation

Town of Stowe

Union Bank

Vermont Arts Council

In-Kind support includes:

Dave Couch Signs Inc.

Idletyme Brewing Company

Stowetoday.com

The Stowe Reporter

The Current is your center for contemporary art. Exhibitions of acclaimed international and emerging artists. Adult and youth art classes and private lessons. School tours, film screenings, lectures, outdoor exhibitions, and summer art camps. All brought to you through the generous support of our town, our members, and our sponsors.

Gallery Hours: 10am-5pm, Monday – Friday, Saturday 10am-3pm

Office Hours: 9am-5pm, Monday – Friday

thecurrentnow.org

+1 802 253 8358