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Artist: SmithTownsend Collaborative | Location: Lexington, KY

view of the big nothing from an abandoned perch atop pink meat pod island (with Godbird watching)

Festival Year
2018
Medium

Wood, Clay, Paint, Mixed Media with Charcoal on wall
Dimensions

Dimensions Variable
Sale Price

$5,000

Artist Statement

Now in our tenth year of engaging in collaborative projects, SmithTownsendCollaborative presents view of the big nothing from an abandoned perch atop pink meat pod island (with Godbird watching). As we've done before, we've overlapped our visual languages to try to create something that neither one of us would make on our own. And this work picks up on some of the narratives our past projects have suggested while attempting to thoughtfully explore the theme of emptiness. The wall-drawn component connects via a long hinged wooden "chain" to a rather largish, pinkish, meaty-looking pod of Brandon's creation. On top of the pod is a lonely little remnant of a brick house with an empty chair in it. The chair views the big empty blob on the wall as Godbird (the strange-looking painted bird sculpture) watches from his high perch on the wall. There are some other components, too, that adds to the narrative possibilities. So, not love of emptiness or fear of emptiness so much as just normal, kind of dumb, and lonely-human-on-a-rock-in-a-big-void kind of emptiness.

Artist Biography

SmithTownsend Collaborative

Lexington, KY

Brandon C. Smith is an artist who works in a variety of media and subject matter including volumetric abstractions, figurative art, painting, drawing and installation.

Smith has presented work in over 60 solo and group exhibitions nationwide.

As part of the Smith Townsend Collaborative, Smith has presented exhibitions at the Sculpture Center in Cleveland (OH), Murray State University (KY), Miami University (OH), New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art (IN) and most recently at Pellissippi State College in Knoxville (TN). Smith earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Eastern Kentucky University and a MFA from the University of Cincinnati. Brandon is a Senior Lecturer of Art at the University of Kentucky and lives on a farm in Salvisa, KY.

Travis Townsend studied at Kutztown University and Virginia Commonwealth University (MFA, 2000). His work has appeared in the publications “New American Paintings,” “The Manifest International Drawing Annual,” and “The Penland Book of Woodworking.” His awards include an Emerging Artist Grant from the American Craft Council, a fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council, three sculpture grants from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, and a recent professional development grant from the Great Meadows Foundation. Travis lives in Lexington, KY, and teaches drawing, concepts, and criticism at Eastern Kentucky University.

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