DULUTH, Minn., Oct. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- 122
Conversations | Person to Person: Art Beyond Borders, on exhibit
now through Jan. 6, 2019 at the Tweed
Museum of Art, is the culmination of a six-year effort by artist,
Anne Labovitz to meaningfully
connect the people from six diverse countries, cultures and
communities. The artist envisioned the multi-city, multi-year arts
program as a catalyst for positive social change one person at a
time.
The show explores cross-cultural connections through interviews,
paintings, and participatory artmaking as a creative catalyst for
breaking barriers. The impressions and words of the many
face-to-face and Skype conversations with participants from six
different cities around the globe were inscribed layer over layer
and became embedded as the foundation and narrative content of the
artworks throughout the show. Yet, while there is a collective
narrative in all of the works, each city's creative elements
display their unique character.
"The 122 Conversations project is metaphorically a global,
visual chorus celebrating our differences and a place for people to
participate, joining the chorus," explains Labovitz. "The
experience of finding ways to relate to another and sharing that
experience with a stranger reveals a fundamental element of human
nature – interdependence can bridge distances."
122 Conversations | Person to Person: Art Beyond Borders
includes more than 100 objects, including paintings, sculpture,
video documentation and participatory elements. The dominant
element of the show is the artist's vivid painted scrolls. Lush
with color and intense brushstrokes, the 6- to 40-foot scrolls
suspend from the gallery ceiling and puddle on the gallery's
floors. The fluid acrylic scrolls visually meld 60 artist-led
interviews involving ten residents from each of Duluth's six Sister Cities (DSCI) around the
globe.
Equally important and integral to the project are the
participatory elements that give people an opportunity to actively
interact with the exhibit – giving them a voice to connect
cross-culturally through their artistic contributions. One such
activity invited both children and adults in each city to share
drawings, words or stories directly on small painted paper tiles
created by the artist. These contributions then traveled with the
show as it moved from city to city.
"122 Conversations | Person to Person: Art Beyond Borders is an
artist-led project that celebrates humanity and the radical and
political act of caring," observes Omayra
Alvarado, Executive Director, Instituto de Visión, Bogotá,
Colombia. "In a world where we are
inundated with differences, oftentimes, in our haste, we focus on
how these differences divide us. Through mutual respect,
understanding, and cooperation, the artist aims to create a
heartfelt connection."
The exhibition is the final stop in a six-venue, worldwide tour,
which was organized through Duluth's International Sister Cities network.
The tour included exhibits in Canada, Sweden, Russia, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Japan, culminating in a final exhibition at
Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth,
Minn.
122 Conversations | Person to Person: Art Beyond Borders, Tweed
Museum of Art, (1201 Ordean Court,
Duluth, Minn.) runs through
Jan. 6, 2019. The Opening Reception
is Oct. 25, 6-8:30 p.m. and is free and open to the
public.
For more information, visit 122Conversations.com.
About the Artist:
A native of Duluth,
Anne Labovitz currently lives and
works in St. Paul, Minn. In 2013,
she was recognized with Duluth Depot Foundation's Artist Award as
an artist whose distinguished career has made significant
contributions to the development of both artists and the arts. In
2015, Labovitz was awarded the key to all six sister cities by
Duluth Sister Cities, Intl. for her work in 122 Conversations. Her
paintings are part of the permanent collections at the Tweed Museum
of Art in Duluth, Minn., the
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La
Jolla, Calif., the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the
Weisman Art Museum, and the International Gallery of Portrait in
Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Labovitz is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Walker Art
Center in Minneapolis, an Advisory
Board member of The Artist Book Foundation in New York City, and a former member of the
Colleagues Advisory Board at the Weisman Art Museum on the campus
of the University of Minnesota-Twin
Cities. In August 2017,
Labovitz received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Transart
Institute, an innovative program based in Berlin and New
York. She received her degree in art and art education from
Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn. In addition, she has trained
in studios in Italy, New Mexico, New
York, Massachusetts, and
North Carolina.
Labovitz is a professional artist and teaches arts education and
conducts artist workshops in both public and private schools, and
throughout the Minneapolis/St.
Paul community. She also is active in the Duluth, Minn., art community and metro
area.
For details about upcoming workshops on 122 Conversations:
Person to Person, Art Beyond Borders please visit:
122Conversations.com.
SOURCE 122 Conversations