Art Works opens photography exhibits alongside dance performances
Photo by Jacob Medley.
Seven exhibits — four of which consist of photography — opened at Art Works Jan. 26 during an event that included performances by RVA Dance collective, a group that’s part of Dogtown Dance Theatre.
Photographer Elisabeth Flynn-Chapman’s exhibit is in the expansive Jane Sandelin Gallery. “Lost in Composition” consists of architecturally focused images inspired by Flynn-Chapman’s responses to everyday sights. She’s traveled across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and China — a fact reflected by the content of her work.
Works from a juried exhibition, “Simply Photography,” were also shown. The exhibit had 68 pieces from an original 175 submissions.
“It’s a really nice cultural night,” Art Works owner Glenda Kotchish said of the opening event.
Photographer Doug Turner has a permanent gallery at Art Works, in addition to a temporary space featuring his series, “Covered Bridges Revisited.” While some of the images in the temporary exhibit featured bridges in eastern parts of the U.S., most of Turner’s work depicts western landscapes.
“That’s where the parks are, that’s where the natural beauty of the country still is and hasn’t been plowed under into condos,” Turner said.
One of Turner’s photographs is decorated with a small ribbon, denoting it as a crowd favorite from a previous Art Works event. Entitled, “Waiting Master’s Return,” Turner was trying to take a photo of the sunset when the view shifted.
“This navaho dog comes and pops down in front of me, I immediately reorient my shot and took those,” Turner said.
Art Works, a center offering gallery and studio spaces for artists to rent, is in its 10th year of collaboration with Dogtown Dance Theatre. The annual performances run monthly in January, February and March. At the Jan. 26 event, exhibit attendees cleared space for two performances, a solo entitled “Fractured Light” and a group piece, “Trilogy of Womanhood.”
“It adds an interactive [element] and another performing art to our art center, so we’re not just visual art,”Kotchish said.
Dogtown Dance Theatre Artistic and Executive Director Jess Burgess choreographed “Fractured Light,” a work inspired by her back problems caused by a car accident and subsequent herniated disk. The choreography centered around contrasting slow and fast movements, in addition to the dancer clutching spots on her back.
“I really was looking to try to find a way to articulate what the spine means from a physical level and kind of metaphysical level,” Burgess said.
The second performance, “Trilogy of Womanhood,” featured distinct changes in costume, style and music, accompanied by the dancers’ dramatic facial expressions.
Art Works is open from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Mondays and the new exhibitions will be on display until Feb. 17.
Georgia Geen Spectrum Editor
