Overview

October 11, 2014 – April 5, 2015

Curated by Tracy L. Adler, Johnson-Pote Director, Wellin Museum of Art

This exhibition features recent work by Brooklyn-based sculptor Alyson Shotz, whose practice examines the properties and interactions of light, gravity, mass, and space. Shotz bridges disciplines in her work, drawing on scientific methods, mathematical principles, and literature, among other diverse fields. Often employing nontraditional materials such as glass beads, linen thread, stainless-steel filaments, and welded aluminum to create large-scale abstract sculptures, Shotz expands upon conventional notions of sculptural space and form.

Alyson Shotz: Force of Nature marks the artist’s most ambitious show to date. More than fifty works in various mediums are on view throughout the museum, representing the range of Shotz’s artistic output. The exhibition includes a monumental sculptural installation; a newly created Möbius strip–inspired sculpture commissioned by the museum for its collection; a site-specific, fifty-foot volumetric wall drawing; and a collaborative animation, as well as digital and traditional prints, photographs, and ceramics.

Shotz received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2012, Shotz was the Sterling Visiting Professor in the Department of Chemical and Systems Biology at Stanford University. Shotz’s recent solo exhibitions include Alyson Shotz: Fluid State (Indianapolis Museum of Art) and Alyson Shotz: Ecliptic (Phillips Collection, Washington, DC).

Alyson Shotz: Force of Nature traveled to the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston where it was on view May 21 – July 11, 2015.

A fully illustrated monograph accompanies the exhibition featuring essays by Tracy L. Adler; Veronica Roberts, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas, Austin; and Nat Trotman, Associate Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.