Stephanie Wilde: Murder of Crows

STEPHANIE WILDE

FORUM GALLERY

MURDER OF CROWS

STEPHANIE WILDE MURDER OF CROWS May 31 – June 29, 2018

FORUM GALLERY NEW YORK

MURDER OF CROWS A murder of crows, conspiracy of lemurs, maelstrom of salamanders, and a shrewdness of apes. These are among the colorful, often suspicious, names bestowed large gatherings of like animals expressing shared behaviors. The first, A Murder of Crows, titles this exhibition featuring eight works by Idaho-based artist Stephanie Wilde. A recipient of the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, Wilde works in ink and acrylic, adding gold leaf to accent her densely layered, sumptuous imagery.

Her paintings aim to delight the eye, but within such delicate renderings she displays a zest for the subversive. Wilde expands upon the moralizing bent of seventeenth-century Dutch masters of vanitas subjects to offer cautionary tales of our present perils.

With a passion for engagement and argument, Wilde tends to work in series exploring themes over extended periods, such as the seven-years she dedicated to The Golden Bees (2008–2015). As a visual artist, she gives form in these paintings, to the language of scientists, environmentalists, and agriculturalists, making a compelling vision of the bee’s inherent value. Wilde makes the bee a heroic protagonist in myriad small-scale works embellished with warm luster. Long a visual symbol of power and fertility, the bee is illustrated here with the imagination of medieval manuscript illuminators, alternating with the exactness of eighteenth-century naturalists. Wilde’s shifts in mode result in a rich pictorial tapestry that elevates the humble bee to sacred status.

For Wilde, who believes that artists enjoy a uniquely privileged role, the question of storytelling thus centers on making compelling clarion calls of faint alarms.

She is often engaged long before grave issues reach critical mass in the public square. How to be persuasive and in so doing connect with the best instincts

of humankind exists as a proposition easily framed, but psychologically fraught to realize. She understands that our instincts are not always just or well-founded.

The murder of crows which appears in so many images in this series thus represents for Wilde our “flock behavior, herding instinct, and mob mentality.”

Indeed, shocking behavior volcanically erupted following the last presidential election. Long-known social fissures quaked under tensions being released.

Fringe voices became amplified rather than suppressed, to the shock of the wider flock. The frazzling of seams was not sudden, but the vigor given the pulling of threads and the speed of their unraveling certainly felt so. America’s ugly history of race became for generations following the Civil Rights Movement something no longer latent, but manifest. Nor did it merely appear as a last gasp of unenlightened thinking or nostalgia for long lost, unencumbered dominance. It arrived as a tsunami of prejudice, sexism, and religious intolerance carrying the massive debris of “inherent bias” and “tribalism,” and swamping decades of earnest, if not always exacting, will to understand another’s humanity. Left in its wake still are ebbing tides of uncertainty and insecurity.

The body of work that composes A Murder of Crows addresses this storm of discontent. As with The Golden Bees, Wilde’s preoccupation resulted from a quickening pulse of social concern. Rather than lose all meaning attempting to divine “free speech” from “political correctness,” she turned to history and historical memory—the collectively constructed narrative of who we are. The struggles of the Civil Rights Era are resonant for many, but the perversions of law, injustices, and loss of life that prefigured the movement seem to have become enshrouded by the haze of time. Wilde draws upon direct memory

of the era to examine our contemporary unease.

Imbued in the work are appeals to universal feeling as well as subtle persuasions. In 2015, she began a series of four-inch square paintings that ultimately numbered sixteen, resulting in a quilt-like grid titled Intentional Silence: Freedom Quilts. In the twentypanel version (2016) in this exhibition, an added dimensionality is given surfaces built of layered gesso in which the artist precisely etches contours and fine details.

Each intimate panel features a quilt pattern, ostensibly pieced from printed or solid cloth. The motifs chosen—whether tumbling blocks for departure, the North Star for direction, or the log cabin for a warm hearth—relate to oral histories of emancipation via the Underground Railroad.1 When all the blocks are displayed like a full quilt, both the third and the final “quilt blocks” veer from the established pattern to show figures peopling a field. Amid an abundance of delicate foliate scrollwork, these laborers are wholly unexpected. In this way, Wilde breaks the visual rhythm of enjoying a quilt. From the comfortable reading of familiar folk designs the viewer becomes a witness to subjugation, oppression, and racism. Wilde deftly shifts our reading without triggering our obstinance or defiance.

Other subjects in this series highlight processes of transformation. Within these the artist offers hope and antidotes to conflicts of values, lasting grievances, polarizations, and stalemates. The myth of the naiad Daphne in Daphne II (2016) makes physical the emotional change that comes from personal growth. Wilde’s depiction of Daphne, her body a branching laurel tree with birds alight her leafy crown, also speaks to our interconnection with nature. Here, the artist has dramatically increased

the work’s scale, departing from the restraint given earlier series and allowing her technical virtuosity new range. Wilde’s portrayal of the Grimké sisters Sarah and Angelina in Sisters (2015) privileges internal over external change. The daughters of a prominent slaveholder, both rejected the norms to which they were accustomed to advocate fiercely for abolition and women’s rights. Wilde visually represents the deeper sense of self underlying their inherited privilege by the speaking crows gathered around them. And lest we forget the lasting psychological trauma of slavery, the diptych Fields of Worth (2015), with its imagery of fathers and sons and mothers and daughters surrounded by sprays of cotton flowers and bolls reminds us of the harsh legacy, and the resilience of these individuals.

The final image in this exhibition, Finding the Graces (2018), evokes the idea that the society we have is the society we seek. We must acquire the character we want and express that as a group. Our inner drives can be exerted as outer forces reshaping our mass behavior. 2 No one individual or group is immune to the effects of such dynamics. But by denying ourselves opportunity for creativity, by removing art and music from schools, Wilde warns us that we are determining a society that seeks to diminish rather than allow our dignity to flourish.

Dignity is only possible when we grant it to others.

Diana L. Daniels Independent curator and adjunct faculty at California State University, Sacramento 1

Jacqueline L. Tobin and Raymond G. Dobard, PhD, have written about various African-American oral histories regarding the use of quilts as signals to join the Underground Railroad.

2

From the theories of the American psychologist and social theorist, Erich Fromm, 1900–1980.

Daphne II, 2016 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 40 x 28 inches

The Bones Are the Same, 2017 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board Installation of twelve, 6 x 6 inches each

Miasma, 2017 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 24 x 24 inches

Intentional Silence, 2017–18 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 26 x 26 inches

Sisters, 2015 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 13 x 13 inches

Intentional Silence II, 2018 Ink, acrylic, gesso, and gold leaf on museum board Installation of twenty, 4 x 4 inches each

The Fields of Worth (diptych), 2015 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 10 x 10 inches each

Finding the Graces, 2018 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 20 x 20 inches

STEPHANIE WILDE E D UC AT IO N A N D RE S E A RC H

1994

Scotland Printmakers Studio, Edinburgh, Scotland/Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

1990

AIDS in Africa research, Gambia, West Africa

S E L E C T E D O N E PE RS O N E X H IB ITI O N S

2019

Three Decades, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho

2018

Murder of Crows, Forum Gallery, New York, New York

2016

Paramnesia, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2015

Metro Curates, New York, New York

2013

The Golden Bees, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2012

Going, Going, Gone, AMG Gallery, Santa Monica, California

2011

The Golden Bees, Prichard Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho

2010

The Golden Bees, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2009

Harmed, Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

2008

Half a Life, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California

2007

Harmed, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho

2006

Half a Life, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2005

Veneers, Argazzi Art Gallery, Lakeville, Connecticut

2004

Veneers, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2003

I’m a 950 but want to be 1000, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2001

Aids New Works, Botanica Fine Art, Bozeman, Montana

2000

Small Wonders, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

1999

Possessed by the Furies, Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

1998

Possessed by the Furies, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho

1997

The Human Condition, Evolving Space Gallery, San Francisco, California

1996

Celtic Works, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

1995

A System of Divination, Memory Grove Installation, Salt Lake City, Utah

1994

Recent Works, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

1993

Art in the Age of the Plague, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California

1990

AIDS in Africa, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

1989

AIDS in Relationship to the Black Plague, Missoula Museum of Fine Art, Missoula, Montana AIDS in Relationship to the Black Plague, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho

1987

Recent Works, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah

1986

Stephanie Wilde, Harris Fine Art Museum, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

S EL ECTED GRO UP E X H IB IT IO N S

2018

Winter Group Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2017

30 Years 30 Artists Anniversary Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho Seeing With Our Own Eyes, Forum Gallery, New York, NY Self Taught, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2015

Nature Unbound, Forum Gallery, New York, NY

2016

20 /21—Visionary Artists of the 21st Century, Forum Gallery, New York, NY

2014

10 Artists 48 Days, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2013

Fall Group Exhibition, Heather James Gallery, Jackson, Wyoming Fall Group Exhibition, Heather James Gallery, Palm Desert, California Swarm: A Collaboration With Bees, Lotus Land, Santa Barbara, California Group Exhibition, Winfield Gallery, Carmel, California We Could Be Heroes, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, Utah

2012

Open to Interpretation, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho Twenty Five, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2011

New Acquisitions: Prints, New York Public Library, New York, New York

2010

Art Chicago, Stewart Gallery, Chicago, Illinois Inaugural Exhibition, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, Washington Birds of a Feather, Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho

2009

Los Angeles Art Show, Stewart Gallery, Los Angeles, California

2008

Blacklisted, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, California 20/20, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2007

Art Now Fair at the Claremont Hotel, Stewart Gallery, Miami, Florida Affair @ The Jupiter Hotel, Stewart Gallery, Portland, Oregon

2006

Spring Group Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2005

A Day in May, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

2004

Winter Exhibition, Argazzi Art, Lakeville Connecticut

2001

A Day in May, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

1999

Winter Group Exhibition, Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho

1998

Form and Function, Evolving Space Gallery, San Francisco, California

1997

The Uncommon Book, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho

1996–97 Winter Group Exhibition, Evolving Space, San Francisco, California 1993

Artist and Eccentric Book on AIDS, Hemingway Center, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho

1992

Fellowship Award Winners, The Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, Sun Valley, Idaho

1991

Art Discussing Life, University of Idaho, Pritchard Art Gallery Moscow, Idaho, Traveling Exhibition

1989

Africa, The Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho

AWA RD S

2017

Djerassi Resident Artists, Woodside, California

2015

Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, New York, NY

2014

Fellowship (Artistic Excellence), National Endowment, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho

2009

QuickFund Grant, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho Fellowship (Artistic Excellence), National Endowment, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho

2008

City Arts Fund 2008 Cultural Initiative Grant, Boise City Arts Commission, Boise, Idaho

2007

QuickFund Grant, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho

2002

Governor’s Award, (Excellence in the Arts), Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho

1999

Mayor’s Award (Artistic Excellence), Boise, Idaho

1995– 98 Technical Assistance Grants, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho 1994

Work Site Grant, National Endowment, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho Edinburgh, Scotland and Dublin, Ireland

1992– 93 Sudden Opportunity Grants, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho 1988

Fellowship (Artistic Excellence), National Endowment, Idaho Commission on the Arts, Boise, Idaho

L IM IT E D E D IT IO N B O O KS A N D S PE C I A L PRO J E C TS

2012

1000 Artist’s Books, Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books

2009

Half a Life, Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Text by Judith McConnell Steele Boise, Idaho.

1998

Possessed by the Furies, Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings and text by Stephanie Wilde, Edition 30. Collaboration with Choir Alley Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Exhibited 1998 at the Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho; 1999 at the Salt Lake City Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1986

Wilde Birds, Publisher Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Text by Lane S. Bune, Edition 75, collaboration with Woodworm Press, Provo, Utah. Exhibited in 1993 at the Long Beach Museum of Art, Art in the Age of the Plague; in 1991 at the Kimball Art Center, Park City, Utah, Books of the Northwest; in 1988 at the Limited Edition Book show at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; in 1997 at the Librarian show, Los Angeles, California.

L IMITED E D IT IO N P O RT FO L IO S

2011

AIDS Forms the Tally, Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Edition 30.

Exhibited in 2011 in group exhibition New Acquisitions: Prints at the New York Public Library, New York, New York.

2008

AIDS Forms the Tally, Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Edition 30.

Exhibited in 2008 in solo exhibition Half a Life at the Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California.

2002

I’m a 950 but want to be 1000, Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Edition 30. Collaboration with Choir Alley Press, Metuchen, New Jersey.

1995

A System of Divination, Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Text by Lane S. Bune, Edition 30. Collaboration with Choir Alley Press, Des Moines, Iowa. Exhibited 1995 at Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, one-woman exhibition. In 1995 at Memory Grove in Salt Lake City, Utah, one person exhibition.

1993

Slim (AIDS in Africa), Publishers: Smith and Wilde Press, Etchings by Stephanie Wilde, Edition 30.

Collaboration with Choir Alley Press, Chicago, Illinois. Exhibited 1993 at the Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California, Art in the Age of the Plague. In 1993 at Stewart Gallery, Boise, Idaho, One person exhibition.

S EL ECTED M US E UM S A N D C O RP O RAT E C O L L E C T I O N S

The William Louis-Dreyfus Foundation Inc., Mount Kisco, New York

New York Public Library, New York, New York

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Salt Lake Arts Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

Newark Public Library, Newark, New Jersey

Scripps College, Claremont, California

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Utah

Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California

Boise State University, Boise, Idaho

Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California

The College of Idaho, Caldwell, Idaho

Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California

Roll International, Los Angeles, California

Boise Art Museum, Boise, Idaho

Wells Fargo Bank, Boise, Idaho

Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah

Allan Katz Americana, Woodbridge, Connecticut

Utah Museum of Fine Art, Salt Lake City, Utah

Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

FORUM GALLERY 475 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 (212) 355 - 4545 forumgallery.com

Cover: Intentional Silence, 2017–18 Ink, acrylic, and gold leaf on museum board 26 x 26 inches Designed by Hans Teensma / impressinc.com Printed by The Studley Press / thestudleypress.com

STEPHANIE WILDE

FORUM GALLERY

MURDER OF CROWS