Michael Foley and Scott Hunt are pleased to announce You Tell Me, a group exhibition of contemporary artists featuring narrative art by Angela Dufresne, Inka Essenhigh, Zachari Logan, Vanessa German, Charles McGill, R. Crumb, John Jacobsmeyer, Nicky Nodjoumi, Larissa Bates, Rachell Sumpter, Amy Cutler, Scott Hunt, Hugh Steers, Duncan Hannah, Scooter Laforge, Julie Heffernan and Sharka Hyland.
Curatorial Statement by Scott Hunt:
“Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.” - Hannah Arendt
As a fine artist who makes narrative drawings, I frequently find myself being asked the same question about my work, “What’s the story behind this drawing; Tell me what’s going on here?” And to that I inevitably answer, “I’m not sure. Why don’t you tell me?” Usually what follows is a moment of readjustment as this person begins to shift from simply wanting a facile answer to spinning their own narrative tale for me. This turning of the tables is the jumping off point for You Tell Me, an exhibition of contemporary narrative art.
Engagement seems the least that one can expect to experience when looking at art. This conversation between art and audience is arguably even more important in a work of narrative art because the engine that drives the narrative comes not from the artist alone but also from the imagination of the onlooker. The artist uses signs, references, metaphors, and symbols—visual semiotics—to help move the narrative forward and to reveal meaning.
But the beauty of this process is that the meaning of these symbols, their interpretations and personal associations, are different for every person. And so each of us who interacts with the work of art is keeping it alive by creating our own narrative, thus preventing the art from becoming static, from being extinguished from a lack of creative oxygen.
The artists included in this show all share a love of the narrative. Some use it as a tool to deal with personal demons, others are invested in creating fanciful stories or decoding subconscious dreaming, still others are in a struggle to chronicle social history or personal identity. And one of us deconstructs the narrative form even further by drawing printed texts, illuminating the vibratory power of words on a page.
Since storytelling relies on metaphor, narrative art need not be figurative in nature. This collection of evocative and mysterious art reflects that fact.
Scott Hunt produces charcoal and pastel works on paper that are narrative and/or allegorical in nature.
Hunt has had seven solo shows in the U.S. and Europe and has been included in many group exhibitions including most recently, “Really?,” a show of contemporary realism curated by the esteemed American collector, Beth Rudin DeWoody.
Hunt is the recipient of the 2017 FID Prize for Drawing, as well as a Fellowship from The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and a grant from The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. His drawings are part of the permanent collection of contemporary art at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem and The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles. Hunt was awarded a residency at Yaddo for the month of October, 2017.
You Tell me is on view through October 14th, 2018. Foley Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 – 5:30pm and Sunday from 12-5pm. To request images; please contact the gallery at info@foleygallery.com.