"Artivists" Showcase at GRU’s Byrd Gallery

AUGUSTA, GA (PR) – Women’s rights, race, poverty, LBGTQ rights, animal rights, war, environmental change, and the justice system are the focus of a new gallery show on artist activists opening today at The Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art.

Artist Activist is open to the public Thursday, Aug. 14 through Friday, Sept. 5 at the gallery, located in Washington Hall on the Summerville campus of Georgia Regents University. Gallery events include:

Artist Talk with Sue Coe
Sponsored by Morris Eminent Scholar Bill Willis
Thursday, Aug. 28, 5-6 p.m.
University Hall, room 170


Opening Reception
Thursday, Aug. 28, 6-7 p.m.
Washington Hall, Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art

The work featured in Artist Activist inhabits the intersection between activism and artistic creation, according to Gallery Director Liselott Johnsson.

“Artist Activist explores art’s ability to act as an agent for social change, a forum for political advocacy, and a catalyst for necessary dialogues and debates,” she said. “Representing a wide range of mediums and disciplines, from painting to sculpture to print-making and installation, Artist Activist brings together both national and regional artists, including work from Georgia Regents University (GRU) faculty Alan MacTaggart, Chadwick Tolley, and Kristin Casaletto.”

The exhibit includes photographs of women and children by the founder of the Girls Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Francie Bishop Good, as well as Deborah Davidson’s sculptures, which merge the seemingly disparate fields of art and science.

With 11 thought-provoking prints on war and animal rights by iconic activist-artist Sue Coe and four posters by the notorious Guerrilla Girls, the exhibition presents art by both well-known artists who have devoted their careers to creating outspoken and profound work. The exhibition also features emerging artists’ work, such as Boston-based artist Shea Justice’s politically resonant watercolors and Richard Cutrona’s lenticular prints dealing with the United States’ relationship with the Middle East.

From Jason Pramas’ photographs of arrests during Occupy Boston to Rachel Mindrup’s portraits of people with Neurofibromatosis to New York-based artists and LGBTQ activists Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe’s collaborative installation Women’s History Month Art Stamps, Artist Activist illustrates the power of art to instigate and influence change. In addition, interactive works such as Erik Waterkotte’s installation, which asks viewers to draw or write in a journal in exchange for one of three of his prints, allow viewers to participate in their own form of artistic activism.

The gallery is free and open to the public.