Im Ersten in Vienna // June 16-24 2016
NY artists include: Natalie Baxter, Maria Britton, April Childers, Heather Garland, Rachael Gorchov, Angela Hoener, Robin Kang, Andrea McGinty, Eileen Mueller, Heidi Norton, Aiden Simon, Corkey Sinks, Jamie Steele
Vice's The Creators Project wrote a piece about the Warm Gun I put up for auction on eBay. Racist McShootface, is modeled after the weapon that George Zimmerman used to murder Trayvon Martin and put up for auction, calling it "a piece of American history."
written by Ashlie Danielle Stevens
Q&A with Institute 193 Gallery Director, Cat Wentworth and Natalie Baxter about her Warm Gun project up on Alamaba Chanin Journal.
Natalie Baxter: OK-47
INSTITUTE 193 // 193 North Limestone Street Lexington, KY 40507 // 270.991.2906 cat@institute193.org
Exhibition: March 2 – April 23, 2016
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 12, 2016, 6:00 – 8:00 PM // Closing Reception: Saturday, April 16, 2016, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Floods of recent media coverage have turned the public’s attention to increasingly common mass shootings and conversation to the politics of gun control. Feeling powerless to act within these cycles of destructive outbursts and stagnant Congressional proceedings, Natalie Baxter found an outlet in making her own guns.
OK-47 is a series of sewn and stuffed sculptures, many of which are modeled after actual weapons used in recent US mass shootings. With fabric from New York City’s Garment District or her roommate’s Goodwill pile, Baxter turns images of these violent weapons into soft and brightly colored caricatures. Though she now lives in Brooklyn, New York, Baxter grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, a place that introduced her both to gun culture and to sewing. One of her gun-owning acquaintances, her Appalachian grandmother, taught her to quilt when she was young.
Firearms are traditionally viewed as objects of power and masculinity, but Baxter is unsettling this image by using a historically feminine craft technique to create non-threatening, non-functioning, and (frankly) flaccid translations. Her guns are more than plush toys, since treating them as such and thrusting them into the hands of children would only serve to familiarize and endear the image of a dangerous weapon. Baxter hopes that the works will act not as a statement for or against guns, but rather as catalysts for open-ended discussions about violence, gender, and ways in which humans relate to one another.
About the Artist:
Natalie Baxter (b. 1985, Kentucky) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Baxter received her BA from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN in 2007 and her MFA from the University of Kentucky in 2012. Through video, photography and sculpture, her work deals with issues of home and place identity.
Opening Reception March 4, 2016 from 6-8:30pm (exhibit runs from March 4-31)
Gallery Show at Breadbox Artist Studios
501 West Sixth Street Suites 180, 185, Lexington, KY 40508
The artists in this exhibition eloquently straddle the boundaries between applied and fine art through their application of textiles. Fiber speaks to the ritual of everyday whether through attire, domesticity, comfort or the sheer method of construction. The works included use fiber as a platform for conceptual expression as well as a surface for material exploration.
Participating Artists: Natalie Baxter, Stacey Chinn, Erin Eldred, Aurora Parrish, Colleen Merrill, Ellen Molle and Cathy Vigor
Come check out a few of my guns at Greenpoint Gallery's People's Choice Show where tons of artists will be presenting their work salon style. Everyone who attends gets to vote on their favorite artists and the winner gets some cash monies and a solo show. So come on out and vote for ma guns! (unless there is something more badass, then vote for that thing!)
GREENPOINT GALLERY // 390 Mcguinness Blvd, Brooklyn, New York 11222
Friday October 16, 2015 at 8 PM
Having run out of space in Brooklyn, I asked my friends with a place in Connecticut if I could store my guns in their barn. They then suggested I hang them up and invite some folks over for a GUN SHOW. So, we did and it was oh so much fun! If you're in or around Kent, CT, and want to check out the show, e-mail me at baxter.natalie@gmail.com.
All photos taken by Joshua Simpson Photography.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 8, from 5 - 9PM
236 Bolivar Street, Lexington, KY
Go check out the University of Kentucky's new School of Art and Visual Studies building for an exhibition of work from alumn and keep your eyes peeled for my gun, "The J Steele" on display.
Break Thru Radio shot Elizabeth Devlin's new song "West Baltimore" for their Here & There series amongst an installation of Natalie Baxter's warm guns. NYC-based songwriter Elizabeth Devlin has a distinctly haunting style thanks to her use of the autoharp and penchant for unconventional musical structures.
Hope Chest: Traditionally in the form of a wooden trunk or box, contained the dowry of a young woman. The chest and its content played an important part not only in the business transaction between two families, but served as a survival kit for the new life the newlyweds were about to enter. The Hope Chest didn’t just contain the objects that would secure a young women’s future but comprised her heritage, her sense of belonging. With this in mind we will produce a Hope Chest that will travel from the Old World to the New World and then back again. In each city (NY, DC, LA) a group of artists will participate in shaping the content of the box and therefore the exhibition. With this gesture of sharing we want to highlight the intellectual exchange within the European - North American Art community.
Created by Johanna Braun
European Artists inside the Hope Chest curated by Johanna Braun:
Maria Anwander, Johanna Braun, Thomas Ballhausen, Anna Khodorkovskaya, Elke Silvia Krystufek, Dejan Kaludjerovic, Roberta Lima, Muntean / Rosenblum, Michael Niemetz, Linus Riepler, Elisabeth von Samsonow, Kelly Sena, Erwin Wurm.
Closing Performance by Clarina Bezzola (September. 12. 2015 6-8pm)
New York Artists curated by Jamie Steele:
Natalie Baxter, Rachael Gorchov, Angela Hoener, Siobhan Landry, Heidi Norton, Aiden Simon, Kate Steciw, Jamie Steele.
Gallery hours by appointment - jamie@gurldontbedumb.com
READ MORE HERE
Sunset Overdrive
Playful in its conception, the debut exhibition at Tree House Gallery embraces the venue’s youthful spirit and unique location as inspiration. Sprinkling the rooftop garden with an array of fresh summer colors and humor, these artists transport us to a surreal space where familiar objects become something new. Lines between form, function, art, and design blur through encounters of childlike exploration. Named after an open world comedic video game where players navigate a metropolis dystopian world overrun by mutants called the Overcharge Drinker (humans who have turned to mutants after drinking FizzCo's soda beverage), this exhibition encourages viewers to experience the complexity of a familiar cityscape with energized amusement.
Artists Include:
Michael Assiff
Andrea Bergart
Jeff DeGolier
Ben Pederson
Leah Dixon
Mitch Patrick
Susannah Dotson
Natalie Baxter
Vernon O’Meally
Curated by Robin Kang
Private Opening Reception:
July 11,12-6pm, 2015
1705 1st Ave (between 88th and 89th st.)
open to the public:
July 12, 12-4pm
July 19, 12-4pm
July 26, 12-4pm
or by appt.
We are honored to be sponsored by the Beach Recovery Foundation, Inc. Please check out their site for more info on this wonderful program.
http://beachrecoveryfoundation.org/
