The Sheehan Art Gallery in Olin Hall will replace the Student Art Salon with two new exhibits this month, one entitled “Parted Leisure/Labored Ways: The Work of Io Palmer” and the other “Image Attached: The Collages of Cory Peeke.”
Io Palmer hails from Hydra, a car-free Greek island off the coast of the Peloponnese. Her online bio states: “She grew up amongst the donkeys, the fishes, the clear blue Mediterranean sea and the jazz music her parents listened to.”
Her art, however, speaks not of her idyllic childhood but of issues of race and class. One piece, constructed mainly of bobby pins, is described to “speak to the non-linear, at times ironic narrative that constructs societies’ social divisions.” The materials Palmer uses in her pieces are usually ordinary objects: bobby pins, combs, old knapsacks and household appliances. Her drawings mirror her sculptures, with subtle color, repetitive lines and undefined forms.
Cory W. Peeke’s portfolio is composed of collages. His webpage says that his collages are composed of images of “the largely ignored and seemingly inconsequential bits of ephemera that once had a purpose, still have a presence, but now idle in disuse.”
The main purpose of his art is to take something that’s been dismantled and scattered, bring those parts of different wholes together and make something new out of them.
“Through the process of collage these snippets of the past combine to become at once something fresh and familiar,” his main webpage states. The final pieces themselves can be described as minimal in volume and hued with calm color amidst scraps of black and white photographs, with universal themes of flora, fauna and the human form.
The dual exhibits will be on display for the same period of time, from Feb. 22 to April 12. Both artists will give separate talks prior to the opening of their respective exhibits; Palmer will give hers on Friday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. in Olin 130, and Peeke will give his on Friday, March 29 at 5:30 p.m. in Olin 130. Receptions in Sheehan will follow both talks.
