On Friday, Aug. 5, the Gadsden Museum of Art will have an opening reception for the following exhibits: Joi West will be featured in the first-floor Leo Reynolds Gallery with their show Southern Faces, and Associate Professor Sarah Miles’ show titled Not So Much A Whisper will be exhibited in the Barbara Reed Gallery located on the second floor.
Joi West’s Southern Faces is a project to document and archive 67 stories from members of the LGBTQIA+ community in Alabama. Based on their own experiences and finding out her identity, Joi says in their artist statement, “Thus the beautiful complexities and intersectionality of our lives and memories build upon these questions: Where are we? Who are we? What does it take for us to find each other?”
Sarah Miles’ Not So Much A Whisper is inspired by the ability of women to balance the weight of life’s challenges with dignity, strength, agency, and grace. Sarah uses a broad spectrum of photographic practices and the confluence of science, technology, and art to inform her imagery. She includes in her artist statement, “These cyanotype prints on fabric endeavor to remind one of the enigmatic blurring of femininity and the fragility of nature…”
The opening reception will take place during Downtown Gadsden’s First Friday Celebration from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. All exhibits will be on display Tuesday through Saturday until Sept. 23.
Please visit gadsdenmuseum.com for more information and upcoming artists.