Artist Patti Grabel’s latest exhibition, Causing a Stir, will combine the East End-based artist’s lifelong obsession with food and art, using it as a central theme embodied by the spoon – a universal object used by all cultures for the same purpose: to feed oneself and to feed others. Presented by Chase Edwards Contemporary in Bridgehampton, the art show will be on view Saturday, July 21 through Saturday, August 4.
“Spoons can be seen as anthropomorphic, which works well for both food and art,” she explained. “I try to incorporate in my work a sense of playfulness and experimentation using a range of material from classic candies and telephone cords to paper butterflies and sand.”
Causing a Stir will encompass new photographic compositions printed on both paper and glass depicting wooden spoons. Her works revolve around themes that touch upon nourishment, sensuality, creative expression, aspirations and the liberating act of taking chances. Grabel’s works are representative of pages in her personal storybook.
Apart from the texture and sculptural quality that a spoon offers, the artist reveals their metaphorical richness, spirituality, and inherent beauty as both an artist and natural storyteller. “I strive to create work that resonates broadly, especially among women who often recognize and relate to the themes these pieces represent from my own life,” she explained.
For Grabel, a boundary pusher, Causing a Stir is about being a non-conformist. As she mixes up her paint using spoons, of course, it’s like the spoon is a pen and the canvas is the paper, allowing her to seamlessly document her stories.
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Popsicles. |
“Every day offers myriad choices. An empty spoon eloquently represents the beginning of the creative process and the potential to imagine limitless possibilities,” Grabel reflected. “It is a blank canvas primed for the introduction of tastes, colors, aromas, and textures. It can deliver spicy heat or soothing coolness. It can stir and serve, give and receive. How will you fill your spoon?”
Patti creates these exception works from a studio above a garage in Water Mill. This marks her second exhibit at Chase Edwards Contemporary.
A portion of the proceeds from Causing a Stir will benefit City Harvest, the New York City non-profit that pioneered food rescue in 1982. This year, City Harvest will rescue 61 million pounds of nutritious food and deliver it to 500 soup kitchens, food pantries, and other community food programs across New York City, helping to feed the nearly 1.3 million New Yorkers facing hunger.
The gallery will host an opening cocktail reception with the artist on Saturday, July 21 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Chase Edwards Contemporary is located at 2462 Main Street in Bridgehampton. You can learn more about the exhibition www.chaseedwardsgallery.com and at pattigrabel.com.
