Four guest artists explore the complex nature of chairs in the exhibition A Seat at the Table: The Chair as Aesthetic and Social Construct at Artists Collective | Spartanburg (formerly West Main Artists Co-op).
The exhibit of about 40 pieces of art will be housed in the facility’s newly renamed and largest gallery — “The Solomon Gallery.”
The exhibition runs now through Saturday, Feb. 29. It features the work of Janet Kozachek, Janet Orselli, Lee Malerich, and Nathaniel Wallace.
In a statement about the theme of the exhibition, the artists said:
The chair, in all its various permutations, serves as a poignant symbol of the human condition. It can invite the guest into the fold of company. The chair can validate a person’s sense of community belonging, as the expression ‘having a seat at the table’ implies. Yet, the chair constrains as well, with its subtle imperative not to rise but to ‘stay seated.’ A chair can even frighten or intimidate as a possible item to be bound to. An empty chair can serve as a reminder of solitude and loss in its haunting vacancy. This four-person exhibition presents the chair as an object that transcends its utilitarian function as a seat in order to serve as an impetus to conversations about inclusions, constraints, place, and time. Janet Kozachek, Janet Orselli, Lee Malerich, and Nathaniel Wallace, use their artistic visions and technical skills to bring to life their own personal interpretations of this common object along with its philosophical and ethical significance.
Please visit artistscollectivespartanburg.org for additional information.