There is a long-standing misconception about art galleries that implies it takes a certain snobby, pretentious, elitist individual to fully appreciate artwork. Devon Wootten, a doctoral candidate and co-curator of Fold, Re-fold, Repeat: An Evening of Art and Poetry, hopes to change that notion.
The exhibit, which features both local and international artists, will open at 5:30 p.m. today at the Arts Iowa City Gallery, located in the lower level of the Old Savings & Loan Building, 103 E. College St. The exhibit, which will be on display through Sept. 30, features nine artists from around the country. Exhibitions will include poetry, printmaking, letterpress, and drawings.
Wootten, a student in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and one of three co-curators of the gallery, had specific goals in mind for the collaborative event.
“We were interested in getting a variety of different kinds of art in one place,” he said. He will perform a selection of his own poetry, and he is excited about the opportunity to present new material. He hopes audience members will be pleasantly surprised at the format. The performers will present their work in 15-minute time slots with breaks in between to encourage movement and engagement.
Each curator chose two artists to also showcase their work for both the event and monthlong exhibit that follows. Artists hail from around the world and include former Fulbright scholars and doctoral candidates with disciplines ranging from poetry to printmaking. Wootten hopes to encourage a different way of engaging artwork.
Nicole Pietrantoni, who is also an exhibit co-curator, emphasized the eclectic nature of each artist.
For the curators, mixing types of media is essential to the feel of the exhibit. Wootten said he thinks sometimes art and poetry can cause panic in the average person and admitted that sometimes poetry with a capital “P” can be scary and intimidating. Audience members are encouraged to not just sit and listen in order to “check their culture box for the day” but to engage the art being presented by asking questions and speaking with the artists.
A crucial aspect in the exhibit is the use of different types of materials and the way in which they will be presented. The show is like a play, with several different “characters” working together to form a cohesive “theatrical” display.
“I work in both printmaking and intermedia , so this show is a nod to my printmaking roots,” Pietrantoni said. “I am exhibiting a screenprint I worked on at the Penland School of Crafts this summer, as well as some handmade paper and collage pieces.”
Above all, the curators said, they hope to attract both artists and non-artists to the exhibit and pleasantly surprise them with the interesting format.
“Poetry is sometimes boring,” Wootten said. “We want people to interact with art in a different way than passively sitting down, listening to poetry, and keeping it separate from the art.”