On May 31st, Transfiguration: Engaging with Figure Through Process opened at the DRAW Gallery at 24 Iwo Jima Lane. Curated by MKAD’s Youth Workforce, this exhibition showcases the work of local artists Tara Foley, Phoebe Rotter and Lindsey Wolkowicz. The MKAD Youth Workforce program offers paid internships in the arts and arts management for youth ages 14 to 24. The DRAW Gallery serves as a training ground for the program interns to gain hands-on experience in all aspects of the curatorial process - from planning, hanging, and promoting an exhibition.
“Transfiguration” presented a collection of artwork representing the human figure chosen for their artistic process and audacious representation of the body. These works invite viewers to focus on the techniques, medium, and labor used to bring them to life. Dissecting an artist’s process of capturing and contriving the figure can inspire an audience to contemplate and reframe the functions, substance, and sensation of the human body.
This selection of work showcased evidence of the artist’s hands and tools, the use of unconventional techniques and material, installation that interacted directly with the gallery, and pieces that compel admirers to get in close and inspect the construction of an artwork. These works entwine, exaggerate, and abstract the figure to explore intimacy, gender, self, and the multiplicity of touch. As we have foreground the technical and physical work these artists take to create these figures, we invited viewers to question the processes of their own body, letting that inform how they engaged with the artwork.
We thank those who joined us in supporting our local artists and the Youth Workforce’s hard work in putting together this exhibition at the DRAW Gallery. Transfiguration: Engaging with Figure Through Process was on view, beginning with atheopening reception on Saturday, May 31, from 4-6 pm, and closed on Saturday, July 5th. Admission remains to be free for all exhibitions we have in the future, and we hope you continue supporting our endeavors and the upcoming efforts of MKAD’s Youth Workforce moving forward!
