Have you ever discovered a box of keepsakes and become lost in reverie, memory, or imagination?
The Thames Art Gallery is excited to bring the work of Internationally recognized artist Amy Friend to Chatham-Kent. Her continuing project Assorted Boxes of Ordinary Life will be on view from September 9 – November 5 with an artist reception scheduled for Friday, September 16 at 7:00 pm. The artist will be in attendance and refreshments will be served. This is a free and family-friendly event. All are welcome.
Friend’s journey through this body of work began when the artist inherited a small collection of objects stored away in a box. The box belonged to a distant relative and the objects it contained appeared to have been assembled with care as mementos attached to a life now gone. Even if most of the circumstances that brought the objects together were inaccessible to her, the collection suggested stories that wanted to live on in the artist’s imagination, taking root as both fact and fiction.
Amy Friend works with family photographs, super 8 film and found objects to explore the rich ambiguities of the life we inhabit, searching for clues to further our sense of identity and to better imagine who we may become.
As a special feature, Friend’s exhibition also includes work generated through a community-wide call for participation. This collaboration with residents across Chatham-Kent asked them to provide an object of their own choosing along with one line of writing to accompany it. Both the objects and the writing will be on display in the Thames Art Gallery as part of the exhibition.
Anyone interested in learning more about this artist, her work and this exhibition can find more information on the gallery website at www.tagartspace.com and www.chatham-kent.ca/TAG or follow us @TAGCK and @ARTspaceCK for updates.
Media Contact:
Phil Vanderwall
Curator, Thames Art Gallery
Municipality of Chatham-Kent
226-312-2025 x 4422
philv@chatham-kent.ca
