Alert, Awake, Eyes Open: Rain or Shine

Stacy Searcy

1708 Gallery presents Rain or Shine an exhibition featuring Kate Bingaman Burt, Sarah Hollis, Ryan Mulligan and Stacy Searcy.

The exhibition opens this Friday, March 6th with an artist talk at 6:30pm followed by a reception with the artists.

The artists in the exhibition insist on the daily act of art making. These four artists are adamant about the cyclic habit and its necessity to the context of their work. Moreover, each artist intends their work to be viewed in series or multiples because the form of production demands context. Like journaling, it is a self imposed regiment with no compromise. It is definitive and resolute about the necessity of routine. The limits of the day demand inventiveness. These perpetual devotions universalize the creative habit. These four workaholics are addicted.


Kate Bingaman Burt is an Assistant Professor of Art at Portland State University. She
received an MFA from the University of Nebraska and a BA from the College of the
Ozarks. For the last four years, she has produced drawings inspired from her daily
purchases, no matter how mundane. Binagman-Burt’s work explores the relationship
between people and their possessions as well as the consumer culture. Her work has
been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe as well as on National Public
Radio. More information about her work can be found here:
http://obsessiveconsumption. typepad.com

Chicago artist Sarah Hollis questions the notion of what constitutes a book in her
work “If Found, Please Return.” This project is a compilation of scanned material, both
art and text, from her sketchbooks which allows for the viewer to see the entire work
simultaneously. The work tests the boundaries of narrative, reading and authenticity.
Hollis is a graduate of Art Academy of Cincinnati and earned an MFA from the University
of Cincinnati.

VCU graduate Ryan Mulligan is back in town to show his low-tech installations. An
assistant professor of art at the University of Cincinnati, his work draws from
autobiographical resources as well as his obsession with pop culture and history which
relies on dark comedy and the mythologizing daily experiences. Full of humor and
playfulness his work is highly energetic and off-kilter explorations of private fears
displayed as Wunderkammers.

Chicago architect Stacy Searcy uses her camera in order to capture the ever changing
sky. A desire to record this evolution became the driving force behind this body of
artwork. Beginning on February 1, 2006 and continuing each day to the present, she has
faithfully captured a small portion of this infinity through her camera lens. A linear form
of documentation, the photographs serve to acknowledge a geographical place and a
precise time. A native of Cincinnati, Searcy has a BA in Fine Arts from the College of
Mount St. Joseph, a post-Baccalaureate certificate in painting from the Art Institute of
Chicago as well as a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati.