The Jamestown Arts Center shines the spotlight on the talent and artistic breadth of their membership for the Annual Members’ Show and a solo exhibition featuring new work by Seamus O. Hames, opening October 30, 2021.
The annual Members’ Show invites members of the JAC to submit one original artwork for public display in the gallery and to be evaluated by a guest judge. This year’s esteemed judge is Entang Wiharso, a multi-disciplinary artist and Guggenheim Fellow who lives in Rhode Island and Yohyakarta, Indonesia. The “Best in Show” recipient is awarded a solo exhibition at the JAC in 2022.
Karen Conway, Exhibition Director of the JAC, says “This exhibition highlights the incredible resources of our membership and their artistic talents.”
In the Jamestown Arts Center’s small gallery, Seamus O. Hames exhibits new work in his solo exhibition Friend of the Morning. Hames was selected for this exhibition by Susan Gosin, the Founder and Director of Dieu Donné and the judge of the 2020 Members’ Show. His new body of work began following the close of Hames’ solo exhibition at Out of the Box Studio and Gallery in March 2020, which also marked the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns in the US.
Hames explains: “The following period was one of anxiety and uncertainty, and of withdrawal from the world. At the same time, Spring was unfolding outside. Green was exploding everywhere, and as I was searching for subjects for new work, I kept seeing frogs… During this period of isolation, the frog became my inspiration and dream guide, speaking to me in the early morning hours, before the birds sing, when my ideas come to me. They led me into the hidden places beneath the surface of consciousness, where the ideas and the poems live, and reminded me of the eternal cycles we are all a part of.”
He continues: “The year 2020 was a time of great change, and of great darkness. As such, my response was to look inward for refuge, while creating work that spoke to the idea of Hope.”
The Members’ Show and Friend of the Morning opens on Friday, October 29 from 5–8 pm. Reservations are recommended. Awards will be announced on the Jamestown Arts Center’s Instagram account. The exhibitions will be on view during regular gallery hours from October 30 through December 15, 2021 (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 11 am–3 pm and Thursday 11 am–7 pm).
Exhibitions at the JAC are free and open to all. Many of the works are available for purchase on the Jamestown Arts Center’s online store with proceeds benefiting the individual artists and the JAC.
About Entang Wiharso, Judge of the 2021 Members’ Show
Entang Wiharso has a multi-disciplinary practice and speaks with urgency through any cogent channel that fits his immediate need, be it painting, sculpture, video, installation or performance. A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, he is widely regarded for his unique depictions of contemporary life that employ a dramatic visual language, creating artworks that exist in relation to the mythologies of a centuries-old animist past and the high-speed, hyper-connected lifestyle of the 21st century. Maintaining studios in both Indonesia and the US, his life and immediate family are bicultural, biracial and the inheritors of diverse religious and spiritual legacies. Recent work focuses on the duality of cultures and experiences in his two homelands, building on ideas that connect spirituality and transcendence with national narratives about progress and destiny through a sustained exploration of landscape and geopolitical structures.
Wiharso has had more than 45 solo exhibitions globally, participated in biennial exhibitions and numerous international group exhibitions.
At a Glance:
WHO: Jamestown Arts Center
WHAT: Annual Members’ Show and a solo exhibition Friend of the Morning: New Work by Seamus O. Hames
WHEN: October 30 – December 15, 2021
The Jamestown Arts Center is a multi-disciplinary visual and performing arts space that hosts art exhibits, theatre, dance and musical performances, film screenings, and educational programming including artist talks and hands-on art classes for all ages. The JAC opened in 2010 in a former boat repair shop redesigned by award winning architects Estes/Twombly. Since 2014, it’s won 5 of Rhode Island Monthly’s ‘Best of Rhode Island’ awards, including the Editor’s Pick for Outdoor Art in 2021.
Programming partners include: Heifetz International Music Institute, FirstWorks, RISCA, FabNewport, RISD, Manhattan Short Film Festival, SENE Film Festival, Spectrum Theatre, Providence Art and Design Film Festival, Island Moving Company, the Jamestown Schools, Social Enterprise Greenhouse, The Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. in Acting & Directing Program and many individual artists and local organizations. The Jamestown Arts Center has quickly become a leading arts and cultural hub for Rhode Island and beyond, where creativity, ideas, and innovation flourish. For more information visit: jamestownartcenter.org