Donna Smith: "Picking at Pulling" at Marshall Arts

Good morning reader,

As the director for the Clough-Hanson Gallery part of my responsibilities include teaching a course in gallery management. Over the course of the semester the students and I visit the city’s museums, commercial galleries and alternative exhibition spaces. During the class conversations, the potentially pro-active role of the curator in the community is discussed. For the final project for the Gallery Management Course at Rhodes College, students conducted studio visits with local or regional artists in order to organize and execute an exhibition of an artist’s or artists’ work at a space of their choosing somewhere in the city. Today I am sending along the first press release for eleven exhibitions organized and curated by eleven of the class’ students. (the rest of the shows will be announced in the weeks to come.) Please note: Each show will have its own specific times and dates. Please feel free to contact me or the organizing student if you have any questions or concerns.

-Hamlett Dobbins
901.219.1943
dobbinsh@rhodes.edu



April 7, 2009

Contact: Ellen Rast
Rhodes College
(803) 727-8878

For Immediate Release:

Marshall Arts and Ellen Rast are excited to announce a solo mixed media exhibition: Donna Smith: Picking and Pulling

Picking and Pulling will run for ONE NIGHT ONLY on Friday April 10th.

The reception for the show will be held at Marshall Arts at 639 Marshall from 7:00 - 9 p.m., Friday April 10, 2009.

Picking and Pulling will feature recent works from the emerging artist, Donna Smith. The exhibition will consist primarily of photographic work. Smith’s images focus on the trials we put our skin through every day. In the artist’s words: “I am currently exploring are the ways the skin reacts when a variety of materials, harsh or not, are applied onto the body. There are also many variations on how the skin appears and changes which I find fascinating. It acts as a map of past experiences through scars, wounds, and exposure. I am also interested in how long the body can undergo certain performed actions and how the sense, such as sight and touch, are affected through forced actions.” The work shown has been picked and pulled from different projects about cosmetic changes, as well as the idea that one picks/pulls at himself when undergoing such changes in a variety of semi-mundane procedures.

Donna Smith was born in Blytheville, Arkansas in 1986. Although she grew up in Jonesboro, Arkansas, she feels as though she partially grew up in Memphis because of the close proximity. She attended Rhodes College, and graduated with a major in Studio Art in 2008. She currently is planning to attend Washington University in St. Louis this fall to begin work on her Masters in Fine Arts.

Marshall Arts Gallery is free and open to the public and is located on 639 Marshall Avenue.

If you should have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Ellen Rast via email at rasem@rhodes.edu.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Center for Outreach and Development of the Arts at Rhodes College.

Jpg information: “DonnagSmith_Ultra.jp” is “Ultra” from Picking and Pulling 2008, Image courtesy the artist.