Artist Talk by Nari Ward and Reception
Friday, November 4th, 2011, 6–8 pm
The exhibition We the People highlights recent, prominent installations and sculptural works by Nari Ward, who is a current artist-in-residence at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM). His work helps to develop a viewer's awareness and understanding of social themes, through wordplay as well as juxtapositions of technology and other found objects. This show features the debut of an installation made in collaboration with FWM, also named We the People, which transcribes the opening phrase of the United States Constitution on the museum wall using hand-dyed shoelaces.
Nari Ward (b. 1963, St. Andrews, Jamaica) examines contemporary issues that include citizenship, cultural consumption, discrimination, and poverty, which reflects his experiences and observations growing up in Jamaica and his working life as an artist in Harlem. Composed of material collected from his urban neighborhood and the discards of consumerism, Ward's art reveals the diverse emotions—from treasured to unwanted—inherent in everyday objects, serving as a link to personal connections and the ambiguity of language.
Funding for this exhibition is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and LLWW Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Board of Directors and Members of The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
