For Immediate Release
October 20, 2008
Contact: Nick Capasso
ncapasso@decordova.org 781/259-3617
Tabitha Vevers: Narrative Bodies
James and Audrey Foster Galleries, Fourth Floor Hallway Gallery
January 24 – May 17, 2009
(public opening reception: Thursday, January 29 from 7 – 9 pm)
Lincoln, MA—Narrative Bodies is mid-career survey exhibition of the work of painter Tabitha Vevers that highlights the artist’s feminist engagement with tradition and myth. The exhibition will be on view at the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park from January 24 through May 17, 2009.
Creating personal narratives that explore the female body and sexuality, Vevers uses old master techniques on an intimate scale to address socio-political issues that include war, AIDS, environmental degradation, the relationship of the sexes, and women’s historical positions in society. The artist was initially compelled to paint in the late 1970s by a “desire to take the female nude back from art history and portray her with the complexity of an individual woman’s perspective.”
Tabitha Vevers: Narrative Bodies will explore the development of the artist’s work through 60 paintings selected from her different series: Secular Icons, Flesh Memories, Shell Series, Women & Knives, Flying Dreams, Lover’s Eyes, and Eden Series. Using a variety of art historical sources as the springboard for her ideas, Vevers often links the form and materials of her art-making to her creation of meaning. In the Women & Knives series, for example, knives carved out of bone become the surface on which female perpetrators of violence throughout history are incised using the scrimshaw technique. And in the Shell series, the artist references a 12th century Japanese tradition of painting shells in her intimate paintings which explore the metaphorical embrace of human and sea life. In her most recent series, Eden (2006 – present), the artist grapples with gender, sexuality, and cloning and their often controversial role within science and religion.
Tabitha Vevers: Narrative Bodies is the third in a series of solo exhibitions curated at DeCordova of New England women artists. Funding has been generously provided by the Lois and Richard England Family Foundation, the Robert E. Davoli and Eileen McDonagh Charitable Foundation, and an anonymous donor. The exhibition will be accompanied a full-color catalogue with an essay by Director of Curatorial Affairs Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, curator of the exhibition. Tabitha Vevers divides her time between Cambridge and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the exhibition will travel from DeCordova to the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in the summer of 2009.
Bank of America’s Museums on Us™
DeCordova is proud to be a participant in Bank of America’s Museums on Us™ program. All visitors who present a valid Bank of America ATM, debit or credit card, along with photo identification will receive free general admission to DeCordova’s campus on the first weekend of each month through April 2009. This program excludes special events.
Museum Closed
The Museum will be closed from January 5 – 23, 2009 for the installation of the Carlson/Strom: New Performance Video and Tabitha Vevers: Narrative Bodies exhibitions. The Sculpture Park, School, and The Store will remain open during these times.
For a complete listing of DeCordova’s programs, visit decordova.org.
For images or more information, contact info@decordova.org.
General Information: DeCordova is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm and on selected Monday holidays. General admission during Museum hours is $12 for adults, $8 for senior citizens, students, and youth ages 6–12. Children age 5 and under, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free. The Sculpture Park is open year round during daylight hours. The Store @ DeCordova and the School Gallery are open Monday through Thursday, 9:30 am to 7:30 pm, Friday through Saturday, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm, and Sunday 10:30 am to 5:30 pm. The Café @ DeCordova is open Tuesday from noon to 3 pm, and Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm. Guided public tours of the Museum’s main galleries take place every Thursday at 1 and Sunday at 2 pm. Tours of the Sculpture Park are given on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm from May to Oct. All guided public tours are free with Campus admission. Visit www.decordova.org or call 781/259-8355 for further information.
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