"Counterpoint"

The show features individual pieces by each artist, in conversation and contrast with one another, across a spectrum of materials and techniques including textiles, printmaking, paper-making, sculpture, and painting. Presenting the works of two artists together often invites viewers to explore their similarities. However, in the case of “Counterpoint,” it is the differences—whether in scale, materials, process, or content—that sharpen the focus on each individual work. Subtle dissonances emerge, disrupting the narrative, while collectively, the contrasting elements offer an enriched understanding of the artists' shared subjects: the body and skin. Taleen Batalian draws inspiration from her imagination, rich cultural heritage, and the legacies of trauma within her family, survivors of the Armenian genocide. Through drawing, painting, and printmaking, Batalian explores specific places related to the body, memory, and geographic locations. These serve as starting points for formal and conceptual pairings such as accumulation/erasure, figuration/abstraction, and vulnerability/protection. Additionally, Batalian works with textiles, utilizing fabric scraps and old clothing from family and friends. These materials, dyed, painted, torn, pieced, cut, and stitched, come together to create tapestries and sculptural garments that articulate her own mangled unexpressed feelings, as well as those who have passed materials down to her. Taleen has received grants from RISCA, Providence Art Culture + Tourism (ACT), and The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Newport County. She also serves as a Visiting Artist at various institutions, including Providence College, Wheaton College, and the Newport Art Museum. Trained as a figurative oil painter, Francoise McAree's work delves into the boundaries between representation and abstraction, the flat and the dimensional, the real and the faux, challenging visual assumptions. Employing a variety of mediums and processes, including collage, textiles, and sculpture, she explores the multifaceted nature of skin: as an organ, membrane, container, and metaphor. McAree investigates both the physical and topographical aspects of skin, along with the psychological and cultural dimensions, to reveal subtle and seismic shifts inherent in mining this subject. At the core of her practice lies a commitment to process and experimentation with materials—wax, paint, fabric, paper, etc.—which serve as analogues for skin. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. As an educator, Francoise has taught at Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design/CE, Parsons School of Design (both in Paris and NY), and until recently, she was the Fine and Applied Art Program Manager in RISD/CE. The exhibition will run from February 28 to April 13, 2024.

Event Links

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2238428-0

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