Two openings Thursday during Real Art Ways' "Creative Cocktail Hour"--Sharon L. Butler & Zachary Fabri

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Sharon Butler: Things Gone Wrong
Zachary Fabri: Arrival; Departure
Sept. 20—Nov. 11, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Sept. 20, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release from Real Art Ways

Real Art Ways monthly Creative Cocktail Hour is packed with activity on Thurs., Sept. 20, 2012. The event, which runs from 6-10 p.m., marks the opening of two new artist installations and features entertainment by guest musicians Rupa and the April Fishes. The opening reception for the two shows will run from 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10 or $5 for Real Art Ways members.

Sharon Butler has received numerous grants, awards and residencies, including a Pollock Krasner Foundation grant. Butler maintains the award-winning art blog Two Coats of Paint, and is a contributing writer at The Brooklyn Rail. She has blogged at Hyperallergic, The Huffington Post and Art21.


Butler's work is rooted in the world nearby—specifically, the idiosyncratic HVAC structures, cement-mixing machines, jerry-built sheds, and improvised building additions that surround her Bushwick studio. A minimalist sensibility resists serial rigor and jettisons the notion that you can get everything right. Her exhibition Things Gone Wrong is based on her belief that the most interesting stories are imperfect.

Zachary Fabri's work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. He recently completed residencies in Belo Horizonte, Brazil and at LMCC in New York, NY. He was recently awarded a Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art, and is a 2012 recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for interdisciplinary work.


Fabri's installation uses Toni Morrison's novel The Song of Solomon as the foundation for narrative content and as the physical material used in the work. The title of the work references mechanical arrival/departure "split-flap" boards that were common in train stations, but are now obsolete. Arrival; Departure explores the historical journey of Black folks, their present situation and the narrative of what is to come.

Musical guests Rupa and the April Fishes are five bandmates from around the world, whose music is an eclectic convergence of musical and linguistic global traditions. Their wealth of influences creates unpredictable, unprecedented sounds, and their upcoming album BUILD speaks to musical rebellion and solidarity in an age of global upheaval and pro-democracy uprisings.

Creative Cocktail Hour takes place on the third Thursday of every month at Real Art Ways.