“Modified Multiples” is a series of sculptures using numerous repeating objects combined together into new forms. The repetition of items transforms normal objects into unusual creations and explores our need to collect, consume and discard. “Mundane Machines” is a group of home-made machines that perform useless or redundant tasks. These highly constructed devices subvert the idea that machine-made items are more efficient and/or modern, and explores notions of labor and specialization. The series of sculptures and machines work together to look at how we approach mass-produced items in a fast-paced and wasteful culture.
Julia Gartrell is a sculpture and installation artist from Durham, NC. After graduating from Kalamazoo College in 2008, she has been refining her sculptural practice through kinetic and interactive artworks. Gartrell’s work primarily explores the production and consumption of goods, specialization of labor and the relationships between art, artist and viewer. She is a 2010/11 recipient of the Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artist Grant from the Durham Arts Council. Using the emerging artist grant, she traveled to Morocco to participate in the Ifitry Artists Residency program. Her piece from the residency was selected for inclusion in the 2012 Casablanca Biennale exhibition.
Gartrell was also a former store manager at The Scrap Exchange creative reuse center, and will soon begin a post-baccalaureate art fellowship at Kalamazoo College for the 2012/2013 school year. She has shown her work previously here in the Green Gallery, and also at the Light Fine Arts Gallery in Kalamazoo, MI, the Durham Storefront Project, Made in the USA in Raleigh, NC, and SPARKCon in Raleigh, NC.
"Modified Multiples//Mundane Machines" will run from August 17 through September 15. An opening reception will be held on Friday, August 17 from 6-9pm. The opening includes refreshments and live music, and marks the debut of a new Durham band, the Hillbilly Hipsters! The band features David Rogers and his nephew Patrick Rogers, who are backed by the drumming force of Steve and Dan Mullaney, and the deep tones of Rob Walpole’s washtub bass. Together, the Hillbilly Hipsters produce a rich blend of folk inspired music. Other bands performing during the opening include The Beauty Operators and Beloved Binge.
The Green Gallery is located inside The Scrap Exchange creative reuse center, at 923 Franklin Street in Durham. The gallery is open to view anytime during regular retail store hours. Admission is free. Green Gallery opening receptions are sponsored by PBR and held in conjunction with Third Friday Durham activities. For more information, call 919-688-6960.
The collection of robots in the Scrap exhibit, each embellished with donated odds and ends, “further develops the narrative of the importance of scavenging and reuse for survival in a post-apocalyptic wasteland,” he says.
“During the process of making this work, I was pleased to discover that the mistakes and somewhat limited control of materials did not detract from the quality of the work but instead gave each piece a personality which cannot be recreated in a machine in a factory but only as a product of the artist's hand in the process,” he says. “This personality gives the work character, makes the narrative stronger and makes every piece truly unique.”
