Lonnie Holley
Stepping in the Footprint
April 18 - June 15, 2013
Lonnie Holley
Stepping in the Footprint
April 18 – June 15, 2013
Institute 193, Lexington
Institute 193 is pleased to present Stepping in the Footprint, an exhibition of work by the Atlanta-based artist, Lonnie Holley. The exhibition includes a series of new paintings and sculptural assemblages that reflect Holley’s personal philosophies regarding race and cultural identity in the context of the natural and the built environment. This is Holley’s first exhibition in Kentucky.
Holley’s art practice is diverse, but he is best known for richly symbolic assemblages of found objects that examine spirituality, African-American history, and the interconnectedness of all things. The three-dimensional work in this exhibition demonstrates Holley’s talent for creating powerful visual narratives with sculptural forms, and his ability to imbue prosaic objects with profound meaning.
The work in this exhibition ranges from the deeply personal to the conceptually abstract. One small sculpture pays homage to a nurse who cared for Holley after a childhood accident, while another mourns Pluto’s demotion from “planet” to “dwarf planet” in 2006.
Stepping In the Footprint also features a new series of paintings on paper and cloth. Holley arranges and rearranges found objects on the surface of the paper and applies spray paint, creating layered compositions with the outlines left behind. This is a new technique for the artist, who has begun to explore the properties of his materials in negative space rather than solely in three-dimensional arrangements.
This exhibition was funded in part by an Eco Arts grant from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works. The exhibition is presented in cooperation with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, GA.