Over a month ago I opened one of the best, if not the best, solo exhibition I have created to date at the amazing Anchorlight Gallery in Raleigh, NC. I made sure I took some time after the opening to recalibrate, and then I have been back in NYC for the past month, getting back into the grind and getting ready for things to come next. I have take a while to come back here to share some photos and writing with you, and that being said am working on some essays and thought pieces that are inspired by the work for the show, as well as the experience of creating it. That being said, this initial post in a series leading up to the closing contains the official show statement and a series of exhibition photos shot by amazing photographer, Sally Van Gorder. Lastly before I go into the material, Anchorlight’s director and lead curator Shelley Smith has been absolutely wonderful to work with, bring a fresh and brilliant perspective to every part of the project. Shelley and I worked on the statement for the show, bringing it to a place I couldn’t have realized without her great editing skills and writing powers. Enjoy.
Reimagining Cerberus, Sculptural Installation
Time As A Sanctuary is a collection of works curated from multiple series, which address ways we can comprehend and convey the experience of time during a period of immensely formative change and growth. This exhibition investigates societal and personal issues directly connected to the human psyche and its (dis)connections to a grander sense of being. The collection of work explores the artist’s shifting journey of perception through a period that has seen our collective concept of time create echoes of change.
detail from Reimagining Cerberus
detail from Reimagining Cerberus
Thematically some works are visualizations of the processing of these issues, others are purely contemplations on the movement of time itself. Arnold’s language moves from realism and symbolism in drawing, to moments of deeply felt abstraction and expression.The artist is working through intense spiritual and psychological shifts that play and move from moments of patient contemplation and meditation, to urgent realization and action.
Arnold was drawn back to his roots in Durham, NC in 2018 due to his mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. As he watched her deteriorate, core notions of time, security, and home shifted abruptly. Toys and stories he once sought comfort in became cause for reflection regarding the inherent biases, violence, ideologies, and mythologies they embodied. Considering his own psyche and ancestral history in relation to these issues, he began a contemplation and deconstruction of the “knight in shining armor” myth, realizing the prevalent and toxic nature of the concept of Armor as it evolved through the history of western society. These tropes led to the exploration of not just his own upbringing, but the cumulative effect of the dominant culture on upholding patriarchal white supremacy.
Reimagining Cerberus
detail from Reimagining Cerberus
In the context of the human timeline these same tropes also lay at the center of our contemporary reckoning with the existential crisis of climate change. The sculptural installation is a tangible comment on a potential and probable future, intersecting with the fantastical, where mythological components challenge the problematic western hero myth in an effort to carry forward and nurture life. Such a world will demand deep fundamental psychic shifts in those of us left to adapt and accept our place in it, and this work is meant to act as a catalyst to ponder that reality.
Observance
Drawings
Time is the connective tissue in all of Arnold's work; his research stretches back to pre-Roman history, contemplating on our present day intersections, while also projecting into a future. His experience in recovery from alcoholism and addiction has infused his practice with a sense of patience and acceptance in process. The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has further developed his understanding of time as something to inhabit rather than attempt to control. All of this has resulted in a slowing down that has allowed for new ways to consider existence. It is for the artist a visualization of the Sanctuary of Time, in which we find answers as well as questions, in which we have solace and a sense of place.
The Untangling assemblage
Durham, drawing on paper
Untitled, mixed media on paper
Whose America, mixed media on paper
A Vision of King Lear, mixed media on paper
Reimagining Cerberus
The exhibition is up for ten more days. I am really happy with how everything has come to light. We will be doing an artist talk moderated by fellow artist, peer, and friend William Paul Thomas on August 15th, 2pm, at Anchorlight. The gallery is located at 1407 S. Bloodworth St., in Raleigh, NC. There will also be a virtual visit coming up with Paradice Palace on IG Live on August 12th at 1pm. More posts coming soon. Thanks to everyone for your support.
Reimagining Cerberus