Dancing on the Edge of the Abyss and Conrad Ross: Laretes Shroud Drawings Opening Reception

Abstraction by African American Women Artists in the Cochran Collection. Wes and Missy Cochran began building their impressive collection of abstract works at a time when it was unusual to collect non-figurative art by African American artists. The works in the exhibition attest to the remarkable depth of talent of African American women artists who worked in the field of abstraction despite receiving little critical or popular attention, a situation that has only recently begun to change. The Conrad Ross exhibition is a series of drawings inspired by the Odyssey, where Penelope's stories soothe Laretes anxiety about what is real. As artistic processes and mediums of expression continue to evolve and change, Conrad Ross reminds us of the importance of drawing as a fundamental component of art, where mark making operates as the basic gesture for how we signify and give expression to our world.