Studio B, 39A E. Philadelphia Avenue, in Boyertown, is pleased to announce the opening of “To Be: Know Thyself… You Do You,” the studio’s third annual show and book release combining literary and visual art.
The exhibit opens Feb. 19, with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m., and runs until March 13.
Prizes to visual artists will be awarded on Friday night. A booklet of prose, poetry and illustrations edited by Jane E. Stahl and designed by Susan Biebuyck, featuring the work of local writers and artists, will be offered for sale in addition to the fine art exhibited in the gallery.
“‘Who are you? What matters most to you? How do you want to be remembered?’ These questions formed the basis of this year’s exhibit,” said Jane Stahl, Studio B’s director of Community Relations and former teacher of English. “And because 2016 is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s passing, I was eager to pay tribute to him. Shakespeare told stories of people’s lives, their joys and struggles, their hopes and dreams, their successes and failures.”
As part of the exhibit, visitors will be invited to share their life’s story in six words and to tell how they’d like to be remembered in five words or less. Responses, signed or anonymous, will be collected on note cards or on slips of paper added to wall plaques. Following the opening, visitors can also send in responses to the studio’s directors.
“We hope folks will be willing to share their responses,” said Stahl. “This opportunity allows Studio B to become yet another vehicle for acquainting members of the community with one another toward building a better Boyertown, part of our on-going mission.”
Studio B is also pleased to host a group exhibition curated by Matt Deterior, a West Lawn artist, and director of Feverdream Gallery, as part of its February 2016 lineup.
Deterior organized a group exhibition in August 2015, titled “This one is for #hitchBOT,” in which 20 or more paintings by a group of artists were featured in Deterior’s home in response to the destruction of the makeshift robot hitchhiker created by David Harris Smith of McMaster University and Frauke Zeller of Ryerson University in Toronto as a social experiment. The Canadian scientist creators sent it hitchhiking around the world, with great success, only to be destroyed in Philadelphia after just a few short days in the United States.
The local, national and international Feverdream Gallery artists organize opportunities, curated by Deterior, in non-traditional, temporary venues like hotel rooms, store front windows, family living rooms and even the outdoors to create and exhibit their work. Each venue space becomes a part of the exhibit itself. The artists display a barrage of random eclectic work, usually with a current pop culture inspiration and often employing a satirical and irreverent approach to social commentary.
Exhibiting artists include Anthony Barbaria, Byron Baum, Nicolas Caesar, Hank Deterior, Matt Deterior, Hannah Dobed, David Gerbstadt, HUMANARTISTVENDINGMACHINE, Krissy Klinovski, LEE, Matthew Mazurkiewicz, Mike Hates Meathook, Jaime Morlock, RALSKI, RSIN, Zach Rudey, Craig Schaffer, Rod Schiding and Jordan Witkofsky.
In addition, there is a Donald Trump themed exhibit called “You Can’t Trump This” planned for 2016. The intent of the gallery project is to cultivate creativity and engage people in the arts with exhibits that change and evolve as quickly as our pop culture’s collective attention span.
