Curatorial
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Andrew Blanchard: Southlandia
Trahern Gallery, Feb. 22-Mar. 16, 2016 |
exhibition catalogue
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Southern Gothic, the term, is partly defined as the exploration of socially induced issues and the act of revealing the cultural character of the American South. With his current body of print works on mounted wood panel, Andrew Blanchard has been reinterpreting various places on the periphery of many Southern towns and cities that are, for lack of a better phrase, on the fringe of society. Ideas of blurred urban and rural county lines, as well as backyard familial up-to-no-good, all grace the compositions in a tongue and cheek manner. The relationship between dusty four-by-four trucks and shiny gangsta’ rides on thirty-two inch rims are the very core of Southern independent-minded symbols that represent the do-it-yourself aesthetic in the lower forty-eight. With an overarching geographical premise, additional thematic interests are incorporated into the visuals, including socio-economics, race relations, literary references and environmental planning. |