Kenny Hunter and Julie Roberts
Nothing Lasts Forever
October 27–December 20, 2012
Artists talk: October 27, 5pm
Opening reception: October 27, 6–8pm
To preview, click here.
CONNERSMITH.
1358 Florida Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Hours: Wednesday–Saturday 10–5pm,
and by appointment
CONNERSMITH is very pleased to announce Nothing Lasts Forever, a two-artist exhibition of new painting by Julie Roberts and new sculpture by Kenny Hunter. The friendship between these Scottish artists began in 1988 at the Glasgow School of Art, grew in the days of the Glasgow conceptual art scene, and endures to the present day. Roberts and Hunter conceived the works for this exhibition around the theme of childhood.
“I want to open up the theme of childhood, the tensions between nature verses nurture, dreams and fears, playfulness and cruelties. I want the artworks to set these dualities at a depth that resonates with the viewer and addresses these aspects without sentimentality.” –Kenny Hunter
“I have trained my focus on children whose early start in life has been one of turbulence, whether forced upon them by war or family circumstances (reflecting my own difficult pre-school years occasionally spent as an orphan in institutional care). Not all of the stories will have a happy ending, but for those who do achieve some kind of successful adult life, it will say much for their inbuilt resilience.” –Julie Roberts
The title of the show, Nothing Lasts Forever, suggests that despite adversity there is always hope, yet, it also reminds us that youth is fleeting. That sense of open-endedness reflects the appeal of these new works, many of which convey a sense of uncertainty or transition in imagery, including a homeless family in a shabby lodging house, two orphaned girls kneeling and praying beside dormitory beds in an austere British orphanage, a boy holding a real gun, and cat perched atop a discarded microwave. Together, Roberts’s paintings and Hunter’s sculptures create narratives of childhood memories: some are warm, but others are difficult, placing children in the roles of rehearsing for the real challenges that lie ahead in the adult world.
Hunters’s works may be seen in the following collections: (selected)
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland; The Scottish National Portrait Gallery; Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow; and the British School in Athens.
Robert’s works may be seen in the following collections: (selected)
Tate Britain; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Aberdeen, Scotland; Tel-Aviv Museum of Art; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; The Indianapolis Art Museum, Indiana, USA; Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Oporto, Portugal; Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Roberts and Hunter will discuss this new work Saturday, October 27th at 5pm.
There will be an opening night reception at CONNERSMITH. on Saturday, 27th from 6 to 8pm. Artists in attendance.
For further information or images, please contact the gallery at 202-588-8750 or info [at] connersmith.us.com.
Conner Contemporary Art is now CONNERSMITH. For more information click here.
CONNERSMITH. is located at 1358 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, D.C. 20002 in the Historic Atlas/H Street Area. Gallery hours are Wednesday–Saturday 10–5pm and by appointment.
