October 12- November 3, 2019

Opening reception Saturday October 12th, 6-10pm

Room 1:

Matter
Stephen Collier, Rachel Jones Deris, Jenny LeBlanc, Cathy Lu, and Shannon Sullivan

Using the ancient material of clay as a starting point, these artists venture outwards to expand its possibilities.

Stephen Collier
Colliers’s work has been exhibited at the Atlanta Contemporary, the Soap Factory in Minneapolis, the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, Whitebox, NY; Artist Curated Projects (two person) in Los Angeles; VAG (solo) in Los Angeles; Western Exhibitions, Chicago; LVL3, Chicago, and Bronx River Art Center, Bronx. His work has been is discussed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Pelican Bomb, BOMB Magazine, and his exhibition at Arcadian Center for the Arts was reviewed in Art Forum. He has been awarded residencies with the Santa Fe Art Institute, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Louisiana Artworks. Collier has received grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and Warhol Foundation and was included in the Prospect 1.5 curated by Dan Cameron. Collier works in a range of media, which include photography, painting, sculpture, sound, and video. He received a BA from the University of New Orleans.  Collier is a founding member of Good Children.
http://www.stephencollierstudio.com/

Rachel Jones Deris
A native of Antlers, Oklahoma, Rachel earned her Master of Fine Art Degree in Drawing and Painting at the University of New Orleans in 2008. In 2009 she was invited to mount a solo exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art and her work is part of that museum’s permanent collection, as well as many other private collections. Rachel has shown her work nationally and internationally and her work has been reviewed in national publications, including ArtForum, Art Papers, the New Orleans Art Review, and TimeOut Chicago. In 2008 Rachel co-founded The Front, a gallery in New Orleans that is a cornerstone of the St Claude arts district; the only completely artist-run gallery district in America. 
IG: racheljonesderis
www.racheljonesderis.com

Jenny LeBlanc
Jenny LeBlanc builds forms that marry a physical object with an event, performance, moment, or activity to document her personal experience in a tangible way. Born in Marrero, LA, LeBlanc graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, Louisiana State University (BFA in sculpture), and Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA in sculpture) and currently teaches sculpture at NOCCA. 

Cathy Lu
My work revolves around the manipulation, appropriation, and de-contextualization of traditional Chinese art imagery and presentation as a way to explore how Eastern imagery is seen and understood in the US, and how ideas of cultural ‘authenticity’ and ‘tradition’ interface with contemporary trans-cultural experiences. My materials are rooted in traditional Chinese art, working mostly in ceramic – based sculpture and watercolors. Cathy lives and works in Richmond CA. 
IG: _cathyclu_
https://cathyclu.com

Shannon Sullivan
Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Shannon Sullivan lives and works in Eureka, California. She earned a B.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an M.F.A from University of North Texas, School of Visual Arts. Currently, Sullivan is a Professor of Art at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA. Sullivan creates interactive sculptures, wall pieces and installations using a core visual vocabulary rooted in the prevailing ways of nature. Her work maintains a seductive, mysterious quality as she explores the nuances present in the living world. Sullivan's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally.
IG: shannonsullivanstudio
www.shannonmsullivan.com

Room 2:

Thomas Friel
Custom Interiors Template

I use abstraction to engage with its relationship to a broad understanding of the Domestic and its place within whiteness, colonialism, American Exceptionalism, and class and gender constructs. The formality of abstraction accesses its historical relation to the concept of whiteness and its erasure of lived oppression of other cultures and peoples through the negation of narrative and individuality. Paintings and objects composed entirely of home decor and home building materials remove the camouflage of the intended purpose and usefulness of these materials. The chaotic construction and painted patterns deteriorate, just as the perceived stability of the domestic unravels quietly under discontent or the failings of past models. In various states of abstraction, these works aim to question the role of class, power, privilege; as well as utopian ideals of the universal over the actuality of oppression through privilege.

Thomas Friel is based in New Orleans, LA and has exhibited his work in the US and abroad, including: ACRE Projects and DFBRL8R, both in Chicago, IL, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI and Art Basel 2011, Basel, Switzerland. He has written art and social criticism for print publications and artist books, online platforms such as badatsports.com, caretandsticks.com, and wowhuh.com. He is a member of The Front.

https://thomasfriel.com/home.html  

Rooms 3 & 4:

Daniel Beckwith, Jillian Mayer, Daniel Newman, David Bordett, Tony Rodrigues

Long Road Projects x The Front
1:1

1:1 explores the multifaceted concept of language and its cultural weight as it relates to direct communication between individuals and individuals to the masses. Incorporating the work of artists Daniel Beckwith, David Bordett, Tommy Coleman, Katie Hargrave, Dustin Harewood, Jillian Mayer, Daniel Newman and Tony Rodrigues, this exhibition explores the complexities of rapidly changing narratives as they are dispersed into æther and received in/out of context. As opinions and dialogs become increasingly more divided, people with opposing points of view are physically speaking to each other less and less, causing for the loss of context, intention and cadence. 1:1 uses language and media as a jumping off point in examining the current state of correspondence, communication and the navigation through up-to-the-minute delivery systems.