Real Art Ways opening tomorrow night

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Emma Wilcox: Salvage Rights
Through June 14, 2009.
Opening reception: Thurs., Apr. 16, 6—8 p.m.

Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by Emma Wilcox, titled Salvage Rights. The opening reception is on Thurs., Apr. 16, from 6—8 p.m. during Creative Cocktail Hour.

Wilcox, who writes giant texts on rooftops and vacant lots and then photographs them from a miniature helicopter, will give an artist talk on Thurs., Apr. 30 at 6 p.m. Admission to the opening reception is $10, $5 for Real Art Ways members. Admission to the exhibition after Thurs., Apr. 16, and to the artist talk, is free.

"For several years I have been writing texts, in 12-foot high letters, on rooftops and vacant lots throughout Newark, New Jersey, and photographing them via helicopter," Wilcox writes in her artist statement. "Initially, this was a solitary act, inspired by the conceptual function of eminent domain as instant blight, as well as by the widespread, false assumption by many Internet users that Google Earth functions in real time. I began with my own house, which I was about to lose. With Salvage Rights, I am interested in the chemical and textual memory of a landscape and the multiple, sometimes contradictory significances of place. In forensics, the absence of something can signify its presence, and scale is subject to continual reexamination."

Emma Wilcox is a photographer, writer and co-founder of Gallery Aferro, a Newark, NJ alternative space. She is the recipient of a 2007 NJSCA Fellowship for photography, and will be in residence at the Newark Museum in 2009. Selected as a Core Participant for Night School at the New Museum in 2008, she will be part of AIM at the Bronx Museum for 2009.

Emma Wilcox is one of six selectees from our 2008 open call, Step Up. The Step Up exhibition series seeks to provide emerging artists in our region an exhibition and publication opportunity at a critical moment in their careers. Step Up was made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.