Celestia Morgan. West End Archival Pigment Print, 36x36, 2017The first in a series of all-women group art exhibitions, “Women with their Work: I,” will open Friday, Sept. 8.
The series is organized by Space One Eleven in partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History. It is co-curated by SOE co-founder Peter Prinz and Jessica Dallow, Ph.D., UAB DAAH interim chair and associate professor of art history and an authority in the field of modern and contemporary feminist art.
Birmingham artists in the exhibition are Friend of the DAAH Catherine Cabaniss, UAB DAAH alumna Celestia Morgan, Beverly Erdreich, Melanie Grinney and Miriam Norris Omura. Miami artist Rosa Naday Garmendia’s work will be exhibited, as well as artist L.A. Watson of Frankfort, Kentucky. Artists will address social justice issues including war, racism, pollution and bodily integrity.
A panel discussion to explore how artists conceive themselves as activists is set for 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 7. Exhibiting artists participating on the panel are Morgan, Omura and Watson. Birmingham social activist Marie King will also join the panel, moderated by Dallow.
The exhibition will remain on display at Space One Eleven through Dec. 29. Space One Eleven is located at 2409 Second Ave. North. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Watson, a participating panelist and exhibiting artist, will be a visiting artist with the UAB Department of Art and Art History and will speak to the department’s 4-D Foundations class.
In 2018, two additional women’s exhibitions in the series will feature emerging artists and sculptors. Accompanying panel discussions will explore of the attitudes toward feminist art among women of different generations and shifts from feminist issues of the ʼ80s to broader societal issues of today.
Space One Eleven provides professional opportunities for visual artists, creates a forum for public understanding of contemporary art, and offers arts education to area youth. Space One Eleven’s purpose is to support contemporary visual arts and the artists who make it, while educating the public on its value. A cornerstone of Space One Eleven since its founding in 1986 is a commitment to artistic freedom and the payment of artists’ fees.
Space One Eleven is supported in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. This project is supported by a grant from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support comes from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, The Puffin Foundation, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, SOE’s Board of Directors, friends of Space One Eleven, and corporate and individual donors and volunteers.