Krasl Art Center Hosts Riveting Exhibition
Jacob Lehmann, Only A Dream Away. 2023. Mixed–media assemblage.
Krasl Art Center Hosts Riveting Exhibition by Renowned Street Artist Shepard Fairey
On view February 10 - May 12
Krasl Art Center is proud to present a riveting exhibition by renowned artist Shepard Fairey. The exhibition, titled Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent, will showcase prints that span 30 years of Fairey’s career, including his famous depictions of Andre the Giant, and will be on view February 10 - May 12, 2024.
In 1989, at the age of 19, Shepard Fairey created a sticker campaign featuring Andre the Giant for his “clique of art school and skateboard friends” at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). The image of the 7’4” World Wrestling Federation (WWF) star caught the attention of more than just Fairey’s peers and grew to become a worldwide street art phenomenon.
Fairey saw the potential of a simple image to provoke, subvert, and delight. He began a career in graphic design and guerilla marketing that has since made him one of the most recognizable street artists living today. Shepard Fairey, Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent presents 30 silkscreen and mixed collage works that feature not only those early depictions of Andre the Giant but also subsequent work from the last 30 years that highlight Fairey’s use of art to push back against dominant systems of power.
“Whether the reaction be positive or negative, the sticker’s existence is worthy as long as it causes people to consider the details and meanings of their surroundings. In the name of fun and observation.” – Shepard Fairey, 1990
More information about the exhibition may be found here.
NEW EXHIBITIONS IN THE LAB & LOUNGE
The Lab and The Lounge at KAC will also welcome new art this winter and spring. From February 10 - March 24, 2024, Pittsburg-based artist Joe Matty uses 19th–century processes like wet plate collodion to recontextualize the digital, non–physical worlds of video games as physical photographs in his Lab exhibition, A World Apart. Then, Jacob Lehmann shares Outside In – Works on Collection and Memory from March 30, 2024 — May 12, 2024. Born in Clemson, SC, and trained as a painter, Lehmann’s installation expands his paintings into “sites” that also include sculpture and found objects, all representing the interior spaces in which memories are produced. Both artists are currently Master of Fine Arts Candidates at Notre Dame University.
In The Lounge, Detroit-based artist Aaron Martin features Nébwakat Mshiké “Wise Turtle,” a large-scale, semi-permanent digital print. Martin is a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, and his art is influenced by both Potawatomi traditional culture and pop culture as well as fantasy and storytelling. He works across several media including watercolor, pen and ink, animation, and tattoo. Nébwakat Mshiké will be on view through 2024.
EXHIBITION PROGRAMS
The exhibition kicks off with a preview event on Friday, February 9, from 6 - 8 pm. Get a first look at prints by Shepard Fairey in Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent, see photographs from A World Apart by Joe Matty in The Lab, and experience Aaron Martin’s new large-scale installation in The Lounge. This event is free and open to the public, offering complimentary bites from The Bistro on the Boulevard and a cash bar.
Join KAC for Coffee with the Curator on Thursday, February 15, from 12 – 1 pm, where visitors can tour the recently opened exhibition, Shepard Fairey, Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent, with Executive Director and Chief Curator Tami Fauver. Sponsored by Forté Coffee, this event is free and open to the public.
CULTURE CLUB HAPPY HOUR WITH JOE MATTY:
On Thursday, March 7, from 5:30 - 6:30 pm, KAC will host its new Culture Club Happy Hour with Lab Artist Joe Matty and Red Dead Redemption 2, a video game related to his exhibition, A World Apart. As part of this monthly club, artists will share enriching media connected to the art on view in The Lab: a book they studied, a movie that inspired them, a playlist that got them through the project - anything goes! Each month, we’ll meet to discuss. Drinks and light bites will be provided.
While Lab exhibitions are always free and open to all ages, the media and related discussion as part of Culture Club is intended for an adult audience. Ages 18+ are recommended.
Finally, on Sunday, March 3, at 1 pm, KAC, in conjunction with the Vickers Theatre, will host a movie screening of BOMB IT, the global graffiti documentary. Through interviews and guerilla footage of graffiti writers in action on 5 continents, BOMB IT tells the story of graffiti from its origins in prehistoric cave paintings through its notorious explosion in New York City during the 70s and 80s. Join KAC at Vickers Theatre for this free screening in connection with the exhibition, Shepard Fairey, Facing the Giant: 3 Decades of Dissent.
The Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks Michigan is a classic art house and cinema that presents independent, foreign, and foreign language films as well as documentaries and popular movies that are intended to open minds, enrich lives, and entertain the spirit.
About Krasl Art Center:
Krasl Art Center is a nonprofit art museum and learning center that enriches the lives of people living in or visiting Southwest Michigan by delivering enlightening art experiences through diverse education opportunities, meaningful events, and high-quality exhibits and collections. KAC’s mission is to Inspire Meaningful Change and Strengthen Community through the Visual Arts. To learn more, visit krasl.org
