SPARK 6: Refractions
October 26 - November 26, 2023
About the Exhibition
SPARK 6: Refractions features the work of UMBC and Towson University faculty, students, and recent alumni artists and their collaborators in the historic galleries of The Peale in Baltimore City.
Our theme this year, Refractions, references a term from physics that describes the change in direction of a wave as it passes from one transparent substance into another. It’s a phenomenon most commonly observed when a light wave bends or changes appearance when it passes through a lens or a prism. Each of the artists in this exhibition serves as an apparatus of refraction: focusing, magnifying, or redirecting attention and perspective.
The work of the 21 artists in the exhibition is arranged across the second and third floors to be "in conversation" with one another as much as possible. Broadly, sub-themes that emerge are concerns about our environment, re-examining historic narratives and cultures and culture moments from across the globe, and navigating identity and relationships to ourselves and with others.
Featured artists: Ada Pinkston, Ahlam Khamis, Amanda Burnham, Andrew Awanda, Anna Kroll and Chloë Engel, Cathy C. Cook and Stefanie Koseff, Corrie Francis Parks and Maksym Prykhodko, Fahmida Hossain, Jenee Mateer, Jenn Figg and Matthew McCormack, Jinyoung Koh, Jules Rosskam, Lauren Castellana, Nahid Tootoonchi, Sarah G. Sharp, Stephen Bradley, and Treyvon Nolen
There are several works in the exhibition that some viewers may find disturbing. We support the artistic freedom of artists and encourage thoughtful dialogue in response to the works presented here at The Peale.
Wavefront is a special addition to the exhibition programming this year, featuring the work of Towson University and UMBC students Alexis Kyei-Asare, Allanis Silva, Audrey Le Ballantine, Audrey Mba, Ayanna Phillips, Gabrielle Moore, Kellan Marriott, Kristen Landsman, Lujane Elkhatib, Michael Elias Rubinstein, and Susie Park. in the Moses Williams Center on the first floor of The Peale November 7 - 12.
Spark 6: Refractions and Wavefront are curated by Catherine Borg.