The exhibition, THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS, features work by Linda Lighton and Jessica Wohl and serves as a commentary on current American culture, politics and values. Each artist touches on themes of anger, fear, violence, pain and despair. Linda Lighton’s strong ceramic sculptures are an amalgamation of guns, fuel nozzles, bullets, and title. Contrasting Lighton’s work are Jessica Wohl’s quilts which reference the domestic and carry strong messages. Each artist making work that is rooted in a quest for justice and change.
The opening reception for THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS will be held from 5-8pm on Friday, May 11th before Mother’s Day at Weinberger Fine Art’s Drawing Room located at 1903 Wyandotte, Kansas City, MO 64108. The exhibition will be open to the public as well during June’s First Friday on June 1st from 5-8pm.
The duration of the exhibit is by-appointment, please contact Weinberger Fine Art via email (art@weinbergerfineart.com) to schedule an appointment.
Cause and Effect by Linda Lighton, clay and glaze, 16 x18 x17 inches, 2012
Good Luck by Jessica Wohl, found fabrics and machine quilting, 60x60 inches
Curatorial Statement | Courtney Wasson
As a curator and mother, this is my activism. I too hope to continue the discussion and bring about social and political change. Most of the work featured in this exhibition was made years ago and it serves as a strong commentary that the artwork and statements made by these artists are still timely and relevant in the context of current events in our country.
Artist Statement | Linda Lighton
We have a responsibility to speak up to tragedies when no one else is. The profusion of guns has not made us safer, or more civil. In the United States, we have 50 million more guns than every man, woman, and baby. Despite this fact, the U.S. is one of the most violent countries in the world. Big money, involved in the manufacture and sale of guns and ammunition, is corrupting our democratic institutions. The firearms industry is a billion dollar industry. One trillion dollars are spent on terrorism security. There have been 239 school shootings since Sandy Hook. Since Sandy Hook, more than 7,000 children have been killed due to gun violence.
My artwork is a plea to think with your heart and your brain rather than respond with a lethal weapon. It is an open invitation for a conversation about this very loaded topic. I don’t believe we can have democracy at the end of a gun. We must learn to speak to our fellow citizens even if we disagree with them. I am searching for justifiable change, embrace it and know it is imperative Believing in mankind, I hope to nudge change for a more positive future.
Artist Statement | Jessica Wohl
I create quilts in an attempt to mend the polarizing conflicts we are currently enduring in our country. My quilts offer protection, warmth, and comfort to those who seek respite from anger, pain, and despair. The works abstractly depict a variety of symbolic barriers, often referencing architectural structures, such as fences, gates, hedges, and walls. My intent is to separate the viewer from something lovely yet inaccessible beyond their reach. By putting the viewer on one side of this barrier, I recall systemic forms of racism, like redlining and gerrymandering, that divide communities with visible and invisible barriers. One antidote to fragmentation is unity. A quilt, by definition, is an object that harmoniously brings together disparate pieces into one united, functional form. To create these quilts, I repurpose fabrics found or purchased from thrift stores and yard sales across the country. I see these stained, discarded hand-me-downs, as stand-ins for their previous owners. Their unification can imply the magnitude of what is possible when different parts, and people, come together harmoniously.
