Exhibitions on view July 22-August 20, 2022 | Opening Reception: Friday, July 22, 5-7 PM
AVA Gallery and Art Center, located at 11 Bank Street in Lebanon, NH, is pleased to present solo exhibitions featuring three Vermont artists: Amy Morel: MASH UP, Elizabeth Rowland Mayor Gallery; Matt Neckers: Fool’s Paradise: Eden in the Age of Chaos – A Tragedy. Reflections on the End of Time, Rebecca Lawrence Gallery Entry and Clifford B. West Gallery; John F. Parker: New Work in Assemblage, E. N. Wennberg Gallery. Three artists working in sculpture through collaged and assembled means in themes relating to play.
Amy Morel | MASH UP: “The main theme of MASH-UP is an exploration of Lucy Lippard’s term “collage aesthetic” and how a collage artist “willfully takes apart what is or is supposed to be and rearranges it in ways that suggest what it could be.” Additionally, by toggling between traditional paper collage and collage-like steel constructions, the work’s themes include: 2D vs. 3D, process & materials, the implications of form and the urban/rural divide.”—Amy Morel
Amy Morel was born and raised in and around Seattle, Washington. She earned her BA from Dartmouth College, her MFA from Tufts/The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and she also studied at the New York Studio School. She has lived her adult life on the East Coast, and the past 20 years on a working farm in Barnard, Vt with her husband and 3 children. Having strong affiliations for both the urban West Coast and rural Vermont has informed the current mash-up nature of her work. Morel has shown in galleries in the Upper Valley, Burlington, Boston and New York. Her work is in several private collections. Click here to view Amy Morel’s website.
Matt Neckers | Fool’s Paradise: Eden in the Age of Chaos – A Tragedy. Reflections on the End of Time: “Most of the work in this show is composed of hundreds, if not thousands, of moveable magnetic pieces of art, attached to painted steel. Visitors encountering the work will be encouraged to move the magnets around (some of them anyway), and the work will be constantly evolving over the course of any exhibition or installation. Individual elements are made in a variety of media, including carved wood, welded steel, fabric, paint, string, wire, and a variety of mixed media.”—Matt Neckers
Matt Neckers is a visual artist who works in a variety of media including sculpture, photography, painting and installation. Matt’s work has been featured by Hyperallergic, Art New England, Vermont Public Radio, the Whitefish Review, Seven Days, and Vermont Art Guide. Take Magazine named him a “2017 Artist to Watch”. Matt received a Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, for his Mobile Museum Project, The Vermont International Museum of Contemporary Art + Design, which toured multiple locations in Vermont including the Kent Museum, an abandoned asbestos mine, Burlington City Arts, and the Fairbanks Museum. He also created an interactive museum inside of a 1940s refrigerator, which was shown at the Fleming Museum in 2019. In 2020, the Bennington Museum installed his work Ascension on the facade of the museum, and Seven Days Vermont named Matt’s solo show, at the Vermont Studio Center, one of the best shows of 2021. Click here to view Matt Necker’s website.
John F. Parker | New Assemblage Art: “My studio is a treasure trove of objects I’ve collected while searching through old Vermont barns and houses, flea markets and country auctions. It is a welcome challenge finding the right combinations that lead to my finished pieces. I love the hands on construction process. The placing, the fitting, the fastening is a creative process in itself. My assemblages can be whimsical, some imply movement, others create a setting. I always honor original patinas and color as well as time-worn texture, right down to the aged slot head screw from another life. If someone thought one of my art pieces were over 100 years old, I’d be happy.”—John F. Parker
For 40 years John F. Parker designed, renovated, and built custom homes in Vermont, often adding found objects to furniture and cabinetry for intriguing touches ‒ maple spouts for cabinet pulls, old wooden rulers for detail, a row of inlaid dominos to highlight a cupboard. With a dream of wanting to devote more time to his artistic practice, his retirement has allowed him the opportunity. His woodworking shop is now his art studio where he creates using found objects, keeping their original patina and color. Metal figures, reclaimed wood, vintage game pieces, aged hardware, rusted metal, and early printed material combine in curious ways to become art. Parker has exhibited at the White River Gallery, AVA Gallery, Gallery 110, Studio Place Arts, J. Langdon, Chandler Gallery, and The Kent Museum. Click here to view John F. Parker’s Instagram page.
Amy Morel | Artist Talk: Friday, July 29, 5:30-6:30 PM, link to artist talk page
Matt Neckers | Artist Talk: Saturday, August, 6, 4-5 PM, link to artist talk page
Exhibitions on view July 22-August 20, 2022. AVA Galleries are open to the public and free of charge, open Tuesday through Saturday 11-5PM.
Exhibitions are generously sponsored by:
The Jack and Dorthy Byrne Foundation
