"Hello Granny No. 3" by Jenny Fine A live theatrical performance and room-sized diorama by University of Alabama at Birmingham adjunct faculty member Jenny Fine that features photography, performances with costumed characters, props and set pieces with live musical accompaniment will also include collaborative installations by her current class of students.
Fine teaches The Collected Narrative in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art and Art History. Her live performance event, “Flat Granny and Me: A Procession in My Mind,” is presented by Stephen Smith Fine Art, which is located in a silent-film-era theater in historic downtown Fairfield, 10 minutes from the Birmingham Museum of Art.
As part The Collected Narrative, UAB students Sydney Boehm, Dezeray Colvin, Tavaris Daniel, Torris Daniel, Jessie Davis, Jacob King, Alex Kulick, Courtney Lassiter, Katie Lutz, Meghan Malone, Amanda Morgado, Dan Nagorneac, Allie Polhemus, Annie Strong and Leita Turner will create a series of collaborative installations on the second floor of Stephen Smith Fine Art. The installations have been chosen by gallery director Paul Barrett for their ability to respond to the history of the Fairfield community, the gallery building’s original use as a silent movie theater, and the students’ exploration of creative storytelling through material, process and form. The chosen projects will involve projections, constructed environments and sculptural forms, and will be on view during Fine’s exhibition in April.
There are four opportunities to experience this live event, which is free and open to the public:
· 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 7
· 12-2 p.m. Saturday, April 8
· 6-8 p.m. Friday, April 14
· 12-2 p.m. Saturday, April 15
Fine will give a talk about her work at Stephen Smith Fine Art at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 9.
“Flat Granny and Me: A Procession in My Mind,” photo by Doug Clark Fine describes her work on her website, jennyfine.com: “I photograph my family. Photographing my grandmother for the last 10 years of her life, I often considered her my collaborator. Since her death, creating alongside her still feels like a necessary part of my process. Inspired by Victorian traditions of postmortem photography, the photographic stand-in and the contemporary ‘Flat Daddy’ (photographic cut-outs of deployed soldiers inserted into the family while the soldier is away at war), I created ‘Flat Granny’ as a stand-in for my grandmother.”
“Flat Granny” began as a life-sized cardboard cutout of her grandmother made from the photographs Fine took of her while she was alive. To reanimate her still image, she says she turned “Flat Granny” into a costume. “Flat Granny and Me” is an ongoing series of performances that take place within constructed environments shaped by early cinematic devices and the colliding “mindscapes” of her family’s stories.
“‘A Procession in My Mind’ reimagines the parade route my grandmother took as Enterprise, Alabama’s 1968 ‘Woman of the Year,’” Fine said. “I invite the viewer to step inside the photograph, inside the story, not knowing fully what has happened or what might happen next.”
Stephen Smith Fine Art specializes in cutting-edge modern and contemporary fine art with a primary focus on artists whose work engages social issues. Email StephenSmithFineArt@gmail.com or call 205-417-1098 for more information.