Emma Wilcox: Salvage Rights

opening reception: Thursday, April 16, 6 - 8 PM
artist talk: Thursday, April 30, 6 PM
exhibition through Sunday, June 14, 2009

Hartford, Connecticut – Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by Emma Wilcox, titled Salvage Rights. The opening reception is on Thursday, April 16, from 6-8 PM 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 Thursday, April 30 at 6 PM. Admission to the opening reception is $10, $5 for Real Art Ways members. Admission to the exhibition after Thursday, April 16, and to the artist talk, is free. Real Art Ways is located at 56 Arbor Street in Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood. For more information: realartways.org or 860.232.1006

Artist Statement
"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. 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

 

 

 

 

 

Image: Emma Wilcox, Eminent Domain No. 5, silver gelatin print
20 x 24, 2006

About the Artist
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.

Support
Major support for Real Art Ways’ visual arts programs comes from Real Art Ways members, Howard & Sandy Fromson, The National Endowment for the Arts, Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign, Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Wallace Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation, Travelers, Robinson and Nancy Grover, and Gary E. West.



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