RAINE BEDSOLE reception
a p r i l 2 nd
6–9 pm
GHOST FLEET With poeticism and concentrated emotional potency, Raine Bedsole’s sculptures and works on paper speak directly to the human heart by channeling the power of enduring symbols and archetypes. The oars, boats, bird’s wings, and other motifs that recur throughout her exhibition, Ghost Fleet, at Gallery Bienvenu address the viewer in a language not limited to earthly tongues and time periods. While creating this body of work, Bedsole remembered a foggy day many \HDUV DJR DORQJ WKH 7HQVDZ 5LYHU LQ $ODEDPD ZKHUH VKH KDSSHQHG RQ D Ă RWLOOD RI DEDQGRQHG :RUOG :DU ,, HUD VKLSV ´7KHVH PDMHVWLF LPSRVLQJ FUHDWXUHV ZHUH MXVW VLWWLQJ WKHUH UXVWLQJ DQG URWWLQJ Âľ VKH UHFDOOV ´:KHQ , Ă€UVW VDZ WKHP , GLGQ¡W know what they were. They were so mysterious... They had such a presence.â€? Inspired by the memory of this eerie, unforgettable sight, she began thinking about the phenomenon of memory and the dynamic between the objects and experiences that anchor us to our past and those that liberate us to let go. A prizewinner in the prestigious Florence Biennial and a grant recipient from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Bedsole is widely exhibited and collected throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas. In recent years her work has grown more spatially and thematically expansive, sometimes verging on the abstract. A lightness and ethereality SHUYDGHV HYRNLQJ WKH KXVKHG FRQWHPSODWLYH VHUHQLW\ WKDW Ă RZV IURP ZKDW DZDUG ZLQQLQJ DUFKLWHFW ( )D\ -RQHV RQFH called “thinking our best thoughts, regardless of whatever faith we choose to subscribe to.â€? Many of Bedsole’s sculptures incorporate fabrics, twigs, found papers, and texts that hold profound personal VLJQLĂ€FDQFH IRU WKH DUWLVW +HU ZRUNV RQ KDQGPDGH ZDWHUFRORU SDSHU VRPH RI ZKLFK JOHDP ZLWK Ă DW FRSSHU IRLO incorporate many of the same materials and processes she uses in her sculpture. Many of the works have luscious patinas DQG WH[WXUHV DV D UHVXOW RI EHLQJ VRDNHG VDOWHG PXG FDNHG GULHG DQG HQULFKHG ZLWK SDVVDJHV IURP SRHPV DQG ERRNV IXUWKHU GLVWLOOLQJ WKH ULFK URX[ RI PHDQLQJV WKH\ HPERG\ 7KH SLHFHV VKH UHĂ HFWV ´DUH DERXW OHWWLQJ JR DQG UHOHDVLQJ WKH past—trusting that there’s a compass to guide us through the fog, so we can let go of the shore and trust the sea.â€?
exhibition dates: april 1 PD\ , 2011 reception: april 2nd 6–9 pm st
nd
Front Cover: Prayer Flag Boat, twigs, steel, clay, paint, fabric, papers, 102" x 22" x 6", 2010
Richard Speer
Tattered Wing II, fabric, antique papers on steel 120" x 48" x 12", 2011
Rain Boat/Empty Tears, antique papers on steel, 96" x 6" x 22", 2010
Letter Boat 1 mixed media 24" x 3" x 4" Leaf Boat mixed media 24" x 3" x 4"
Water Boat mixed media 24" x 3" x 4" Flooded Photo Boat mixed media 24" x 3" x 4"
518 JULIA STREET, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70130
Rain Boat/Translucent Tears antique papers on fabric and steel, 102" x 10" x 15"
ARTWORK © RAINE BEDSOLE 2010 CATALOG © GALLERY BIENVENU 2011 3+272*5$3+< :,// &52&.(5
504.525.0518
www.gallerybienvenu.com