Do you like talking artists? Whiskey straight up? Karaoke? Cookies? Human interaction? Then you’re in store. Monday, December 18th at 7:00 PM, RTS member Sam Vernon and visiting artist in residence Chelsea A. Flowers will be sharing their work. In conjunction with the talks, space for singing, and cookie and alcohol consumption will be available. Feel free to bring your mixers.
Based in Detroit, Chelsea A. Flowers is an artist who holds an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. And a BFA from Denison University with a concentration in Black Studies. She has shown work at various galleries in Columbus and Cleveland Ohio; including Marcia Evans Gallery, Junctionview Studios, with upcoming exhibits at Muted Horn Gallery and ACRE Projects Space. Additionally she has held performances at Hatch Gallery in Detroit, and the Museum of Human Achievement in Austin. She has given performative lectures at Cranbrook Academy of Art, College for Creative Studies and Wayne State University. She has expanded her skills and research by attending ACRE and Unlisted Projects residencies, culminating in various performances at the establishments. Her practice explores subversion to popular culture and how “otherness” is created, and social and cultural critique of her environment. She explores these ideas through comedic troupes, physical play, nostalgic memorabilia, and participatory performance.
Sam Vernon earned her MFA in Painting/Printmaking from Yale University in 2015 and her BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2009. Her installations combine xeroxed drawings, photographs, paintings and sculptural components in an exploration of personal narrative and identity. She uses installation and performance to honor the past while revising historical memory. Vernon has exhibited with Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum, Fowler Museum at UCLA, Seattle Art Museum, Ewing Gallery of Art & Architecture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Emery Community Arts Center at the University of Maine, Farmington, MoCADA, and the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Brooklyn.