Three solo shows opening at Real Art Ways on Thursday

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Corey D'Augustine
Chris Taylor: Small craft Advisory
Beth Krebs: Wild Blue Yonder
May 21-Aug. 23, 2009.
Opening reception; Thurs., May 21, 6-8 p.m.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents three solo exhibitions by artists Corey D'Augustine, Chris Taylor, and Beth Krebs, opening on Thursday, May 21, 2009. The three exhibitions require intensive installations: Corey D'Augustine's sculptural pieces include half of a car, Chris Taylor is installing a glass blowing studio built into a seven-foot boat, and Beth Krebs is creating an artificial ceiling and sky. The opening reception is on Thurs., May 21, 6—8 p.m., during Creative Cocktail Hour. Admission to the opening is $10/$5 for Real Art Ways members. After May 21, admission to the gallery is free for members and cinema patrons, and is otherwise a $3 suggested donation. The three shows run through Sun., Aug. 23.

• Corey D'Augustine

Artist Talk: Thurs., July 23, 6 p.m. (with Chris Taylor)
D'Augustine's show, which involves the installation of half of a car in the gallery, will feature large-scale sculptures of lights and car parts, and paintings that remain wet (the paint is mixed with ingredients from Revlon makeup products). The artist says, "by highlighting the extraordinary qualities of everyday materials and the commonplace properties of fine materials, for example, or by locating refined qualities in the most prosaic techniques, I try to use perceived difference against itself toward a blank aesthetics... Art can be awareness and can change our relationship to what surrounds us."

• Chris Taylor: Small Craft Advisory

Artist Talk: Thurs., July 23, 6 p.m. (with D'Augustine)
Taylor will install a self-sufficient, traditional glass blowing studio built into a seven-foot boat. The glass blowing in that studio will be influenced by the motion of the boat, and the artist will document the process of re-learning a traditional craft skill in a new environment. Other projects by the artist include upside-down glass blowing and recreating a 16th century goblet from the collections room of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which he then placed next to the original in the collection. His version was perfectl identical: the museum was forced to keep both because their staff could not identify the original.

• Beth Krebs: Wild Blue Yonder

Artist Talk: Thursday, July 9, 6 p.m.
Krebs is creating a sky in the gallery ceiling, complete with clouds, birds, with an accompanying video element. Krebs, who describes her work as "extraordinary interruptions in ordinary spaces," asks viewers to "notice where they are, and, with humor, to imagine what else might be possible there." Previous installations have included a dropped ceiling in the woods, burping papier mâché standpipes on sidewalks, and a tiny vinyl boat sailing across a waterbed.

• Support
All three exhibitions are part of Real Art Ways' Step Up program, an open call for emerging artists in New England, New York, and New Jersey. Step Up is made possible with support from Real Art Ways Members, the National Endowment for the Arts, Sandy and Howard Fromson, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.