The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Fine Art Gallery will present Of Our Elaborate Plans by Christopher Lavery from Oct. 15 through Nov. 25, 2012. The exhibition debuts Lavery’s work to Aroostook County. The public is invited to view the exhibition throughout the show’s run and gather for a Gallery Reception, being held in conjunction with the Presque Isle First Friday Art Walk, on Nov. 2 from 5-7 p.m.
Christopher Lavery is a sculptor currently living in Murray, Kentucky. Formerly an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Maine at Farmington, Lavery relocated to Kentucky over the summer to join the faculty at Murray State University. He has a unique background in graphic design, photography, and sculpture. He earned his BFA in Photography from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1998 and his MFA in Sculpture from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His area(s) of concentration was in Sculpture, Installation, Video, Sound, Performance Metalworking, and Photography.
His exhibit, Of Our Elaborate Plans, is a unique blend of his technical experience. Mixing sculpture with video and embedded sound, Lavery’s show tackles mythological hoax. “These works I am presenting as evidence of the exploration of the hoax in relation to the supernatural,” Lavery said. Manifestations that exist in pop culture still hold onto ancient thoughts in the belief of the unknown. “Everything from science fiction romanticization of celestial beings, whether physical or imagined, to earthy beasts with slight relation to either ‘us’ or ‘them’ can fall into the context of our obsession with deconstructing the hoax.”
Of Our Elaborate Plans explores everything from Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to Extraterrestrial Beings. Gallery Director Heather Sincavage commented, “A show like this has not been done in Aroostook County, yet the subject matter is something that can turn up in day-to-day conversations. We see hours upon hours of speculative documentaries and fiction on TV and in films—Lavery runs with that experience and questions our absurd fixations, obsessions, and manifestations in relation to ourselves.”
“We are lucky to have the work of Christopher Lavery at the Reed,” Sincavage continued. “He is an industrious artist. He was awarded with the Denver International Airport Emerging Public Artist Project in 2008, which is now coming to a close. He proposed, designed, and managed this more than $120,000 project all while developing our exhibit here at the Reed. Please be sure to come out and see the exhibit. It will surely not disappoint!”
Of Our Elaborate Plans will be exhibited from Oct. 15 through Nov. 25, 2012, in the Reed Gallery. There will be a First Friday Reception during the Nov. 2 Art Walk, 5-7 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
The Reed Fine Art Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed Sundays and University holidays. For more information about this event, please contact Sincavage at 768-9442 or heather.sincavage@maine.edu.
