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List Gallery to Feature Group Exhibit, 'Networks and Intersections'


For Immediate Release: October 22, 2007
Contact: Marsha Nishi Mullan
610-328-8535
http://www.swarthmore.edu/news


List Gallery to Feature 'Networks and Intersections'
 by Thompson, Duffy, Johnson, and Hamlin

The List Gallery, Swarthmore College, will present "Networks and Intersections," a group exhibition of works by Esmé Thompson, Elizabeth Duffy, Duncan Johnson, and Louise Hamlin. Curated by Esmé Thompson, the exhibition will be on display from Friday, Nov. 9, through Saturday, Dec. 15. A gallery reception will be held on Nov. 9 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday 12-5 p.m. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Although the works featured in "Networks and Intersections" are diverse in philosophy and media, they share an underlying emphasis on pattern, woven grids, and linear webs. In distinct ways, each artist skillfully transforms and unifies diverse and intricate visual elements.

Esmé Thompson draws inspiration from both natural and man-made structures to create vivid paintings that challenge the viewer. Fusing man-made and organic structures, she creates networks of lines and layers of color that seem to grow and shift. Despite the diverse and complex elements of her work, she composes her paintings so that each part seamlessly coheres with the whole. Since receiving her M.F.A. from Yale University, she has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions at diverse venues including New England College, Henniker, N.H.; 55 Mercer Gallery, New York City; and the Painting Center, New York City. Her awards include grants from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation at Dartmouth College, and fellowships from both the Bogliasco Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation in Italy.

Elizabeth Duffy employs simple materials such as paper, straws, and lint. Her methodically crafted sculptures and installations find beauty through simplicity. Whereas her palette draws inspiration from commercial culture, her ritualistic process of layering and weaving evokes domestic craft and a state of calm. The modesty of the materials she employs invites viewers to closely analyze the work and discover how her process transforms the ordinary. Elizabeth Duffy attended the New York Studio School and went on to receive her M.F.A. from Brooklyn College/C.U.N.Y. Her work has been featured in eight solo exhibitions including at Matzo Files, New York City; and Clean Start, Holland Tunnel, Brooklyn. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions nationally including The Islip Art Museum, East Islip, N.Y.; White Columns, N.Y., and the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Conn. She has received four MacDowell Colony Fellowships and has also been recognized by the New York Foundation for the Arts. She has also been a visiting lecturer at Cooper Union and the Parsons School of Design.

Duncan Johnson balances simplicity with intricacy in his sculptures, many of which are composed of wood and pigment. Meticulously carving recycled wood, he creates shapes that possess a dynamic asymmetry and evoke organic forms such as shells, plants, and trees. He reveals the subdued beauty of the wood by leaving it untreated or using natural, earthy dyes and stains. He received his B.F.A. from Pratt Institute and has since gone on to exhibit nationally in venues such as 55 Mercer Gallery and the JJ Brookings Gallery, San Francisco. He has received a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and a sculpture fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

In her paintings and pastels, Louise Hamlin meditates on the interplay of natural and synthetic objects. In works such as "Green Fence in Streambed" (2004), she integrates the linear quality of the fencing and its cast shadows on the pebbled riverbed, harmonizing both the natural and constructed forms. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and the New York Studio School, Louise Hamlin has mounted over a dozen solo exhibitions and over 50 group exhibitions. A frequent exhibitor at the Blue Mountain Gallery, New York City, she is currently represented by Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia. The recipient of a Mellon Foundation grant, she has also received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, The Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Vermont Council for the Arts.


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