Tweak of Nature, Seunghwui Koo, Narcissism, Acrylic on resin, mirror, 12.5” x 48” x 12”, © Seunghwui Koo 2012

Main Line Art Center Presents Tweak of Nature Featuring New York and Philadelphia Artists

2015 Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art Recipients:
Seunghwui Koo, Tasha Lewis,  Kate Stewart 

Curated by Amie Potsic, Executive Director of Main Line Art Center

March 9 – April 21, 2015

Artist Talks & Opening Reception: Friday, March 13

Artist Talks: 5:30-6:30 pm | Reception: 6:30-8:30 pm

Artist Workshops:

Piggy’s Treehouse: Story Inspired Sculpture Family Workshop
Seunghwui Koo | Saturday, April 11, 10:30 am-12 pm

Piggy Bank Family Workshop
Seunghwui Koo | Saturday, April 11, 1-2:30 pm

Alternative Drawing Techniques Adult Workshop
Kate Stewart | Saturday, April 18, 1-4 pm

Sun Print Magnetic Butterflies Family Workshop
Tasha Lewis | Sunday, April 19, 1-4 pm
HAVERFORD, PA Main Line Art Center in Haverford is proud to announce Seunghwui Koo (New York, NY), Tasha Lewis (New York, NY), Kate Stewart (Philadelphia, PA) have been named recipients of the 2015 Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art.

Selected by Members of Main Line Art Center’s Board of Artistic Advisors and Executive Director through a competitive application process, Koo, Lewis, and Stewart will be featured in Tweak of Nature, the 11th Annual Betsy Meyer Memorial Exhibition, on view at Main Line Art Center March 9 to April 21.  The exhibition hosts photo-based constructions, whimsical sculpture, large-scale paintings, and site-specific installation.  Inspired by the exhilarating energy of natural and urban environments, these artists speak to our collective experience as human beings navigating the elements, the animal kingdom, and each other.  Manipulating and tweaking our perception of nature and its creatures, they create new beings, surroundings, and realities that surprise, challenge, and delight.  The exhibition was curated by Amie Potsic, Executive Director of Main Line Art Center.

For over a decade, Main Line Art Center has presented an exhibition each spring in memory of Teaching Artist Betsy Meyer featuring the work of forward-thinking artists who are pushing boundaries within their artistic practice. As an artist, Betsy exemplified what is most exciting about engaging with the artwork of living artists: watching them experiment with their media and tackling complicated and tough subjects. As a teacher, she encouraged her students to follow her example and expand their practice into new frontiers. And finally, as a member of the board and exhibition committee, she assured that the Art Center was there for the artistic community of Philadelphia.

In 2014, Main Line Art Center and the Meyer Family expanded the exhibition program to include the Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art, which consists of a solo exhibition and award of $1000 to each selected artist. The growth of this program is an effort to support the talented contemporary artists in the Mid-Atlantic region, to honor deserving artists in the field, and to encourage excellence and experimentation in artistic practice, presentation, and community involvement.  The 2014 recipients of the Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art were Tim Portlock, Jennie Thwing, and Nic Coviello.

The Art Center will host artist talks Friday, March 13 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, followed by a public reception from 6:30 to 8:30 pm featuring samplings from the center’s wine sponsor, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly.  The artist talk, reception and gallery visits are free and open to the public. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 8 pm, andFriday through Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.  Additional programs for Tweak of Nature include two family workshops presented by Seunghwui Koo on Saturday, April 11, a family workshop by Tasha Lewis on Sunday, April 19 from 1 to 4 pm, and a workshop for adults on alternative drawing techniques presented by Kate Stewart on Saturday, April 18 from 1 to 4 pm.  For more information about these programs, including registration, visit www.mainlinert.org or call610.525.0272.

Tweak of Nature, Tasha Lewis, Horned Gazelle, Cyanotype sculpture , 8” x 11” x 6” © Tasha Lewis 2014

Tasha Lewis is an artist originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, whose sculptural and installation works combine the historic photographic process of cyanotype with paper sculpture, stitching, magnets, and ephemeral public art.  Lewis received her BAs in English Literature and Studio Arts from Swarthmore College in 2012, and has studied at the Firenze Arte Visive in Florence, Italy and the Qasid Institute in Amman, Jordan.   She has exhibited her work in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Newark, New York City, Cambridge, Sarasota, and Grand Rapids, with recent exhibitions at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Cambridge Art Association in Massachusetts, and the Spartanburg Art Museum in South Carolina.  Her works have been featured in British Vogue and The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes by Christopher James.  Having recently completed a residency at Gallery Aferro in Newark, NJ, Lewis currently lives and works in the New York metropolitan area.

Kate Stewart, Götterdämmerung (detail). Custom wall covering and fabric, paint, chairs. Dimensions variable (20’ x 20’ x 20’) © Kate Stewart 2012

Kate Stewart is a painter and installation artist in Philadelphia whose wide-ranging work engages humanity’s relationship to the environment and disaster.  She received her MFA from The University of Pennsylvania in 2003, a BA from Dickinson College in 1998, and studied abroad in Toulouse, France and at the University of Yaounde, in Cameroon.   She was awarded a 6-month artist residency at 40^th Street AIR in Philadelphia, received a Vermont Studio Center grant and one-month residency, and was a 2008 finalist for a Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Individual Artist Fellowship.  Stewart’s work has been exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, P.S. 122 in New York, Towson University, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia.  Her solo exhibitions include Vox Populi Gallery, Moore College of Art, West Chester University, The Art Institute of Philadelphia, Drexel University, Gettysburg College, and Seraphin Gallery.

Seunghwui Koo, Lambo, Acrylic on resin, 9” x 24” x 24”, © Seunghwui Koo 2013

Seunghwui Koo is a sculptor whose work draws inspiration from traditional South Korean culture and the daily happenings and intricate moments of her life in New York City.  She earned a BFA in Sculpture and Fine Art from the Kyungpook National University in South Korea in 2005.  Koo was awarded a Visual Art Studio Residency by Chashama in New York in 2013, and received the Allied Artists of America’s Members and Associated Award in 2014.  She has recently exhibited her work at the Belskie Museum of Art and Science in New Jersey, the Newark Museum in New Jersey, the Fountain Art Fair and Scope Art Fair in New York, and Gallery Shilla in South Korea.  In addition, she was the 2014 winner of the New Generation Able Fine Art Seoul Competition.

Amie Potsic, curator of the exhibition, began her tenure as Executive Director of Main Line Art Center in July of 2012.  Prior to that, she served as Director of Gallery 339 and Director of the Career Development Program at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) in Philadelphia where she curated exhibitions and planned professional development programming for emerging and professional artists. Potsic has curated over 70 exhibitions at venues including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Moore College of Art & Design. Potsic is also an established photographic artist who has exhibited her work  internationally.  In addition, she is currently Chair of the Art In City Hall Artistic Advisory Board to the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy.

Main Line Art Center is our community’s home to create, experience, and discover the value of visual art.  From our award-winning visual art classes, to our contemporary and innovative exhibitions, you can count on quality and expect the unexpected at Main Line Art Center.  The art we exhibit, teach, and share is intended to exceed expectations as it inspires creativity, conversation, and joy. The mission that underscores all we do is to inspire and engage artistic creativity for all ages and abilities and to celebrate and strengthen the essential role of visual art in community life.  Last year we inspired 16,000 people a Main Line Art Center and touched the lives of over 80,000 through our Exhibitions in the Community and festivals across the Philadelphia area.

Main Line Art Center is located at 746 Panmure Road in Haverford, behind the Wilkie Lexus dealership just off of Lancaster Avenue. The Art Center is easily accessible from public transportation and offers abundant free parking. For more information about Tweak of Nature, please visit www.mainlineart.org or call 610.525.0272.

Photographs and content for this DoNArTNeWs blog post provided by Amie Potsic. Thank You!

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