What do gravestone sculptures, painted portraits of women, and cyanotypes of autobiographical fragments have in common? They are all part of Foundry Art Centre’s spring exhibits, which engage deeply human concerns such as death and grief, interiority and intimacy, and memory and identity.
Founded in the spring of 2004 in what was once a train car factory, Foundry Art Centre brings art exhibitions, performances, and community events to the St. Charles region. The regional art and civic center is primarily known for its juried art shows and community programming. This group of exhibitions marks an exciting new shift in the organization’s direction toward solo shows spotlighting local and regional artists. Jessica Mannisi, art director at the Foundry, discusses this change as part of the organization’s rebirth following its acquisition by the city of St. Charles. The new emphasis on solo shows, spearheaded by Mannisi, gives regional artists the rare opportunity to showcase their body of work rather than a single work within a larger group exhibition.
Stay up-to-date with the local arts scene
Subscribe to the weekly St. Louis Arts+Culture newsletter to discover must-attend art exhibits, performances, festivals, and more.
Judy Duggan-McCormack’s The Presence of Absence explores death, grief, and memory through an eclectic ensemble of memento mori sculptures, textiles, and embroideries. Intrigued by mourning rituals and traditions, the Canadian artist examines death as a personal tragedy loaded with cultural and historical associations. In one work, Duggan-McCormack takes a wax rubbing of a headstone, a simulacrum of death, and translates it into embroidery. In another, she embellishes a gravestone sculpture of cotton and wood with embroideries resembling moss and lichen. Her engagement with mixed media underscores the contrast between ancient rituals surrounding death and their modern iterations.
Rachel Ferguson is a Missouri-based figurative painter. Inside Voices is a collection of painted portraits of women that illuminate their inner lives. Ferguson’s striking use of light, simple compositions, and close-up views of the subject’s expression combine to create a visual language of intimacy and female interiority. Without visual props and other contextual clues, Ferguson employs body language to hint at the inner thoughts and emotions lying beneath the surface.
Kalven Duncan’s through this window, another side uses cyanotype, an alternative photographic technique, to examine their personal history in relation to their queer identity. The slow and gradual process, which produces a Prussian blue from the exposure of iron compounds to UV light, lends itself to introspection and self-reflection. Duncan’s cyanotypes assemble fragments from their past into a visual vocabulary that sheds light on the artist’s individual queer experience.
All three exhibitions are on view now through March 19. An opening reception will take place January 7 from 5-8 p.m. with music performances and art activities.
