Artistry presents Endemic by Fawzia Khan and The Culturing of Guns by Jane Powers in the Inez Greenberg Gallery
January 19, 2024 through March 7, 2024.
Opening Reception: Friday, January 26, 2024 from 6:00-8:00pm
Artist Talk: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 from 6:30-7:30pm
“Endemic” and “The Culturing of Guns” are two separate exhibitions by Fawzia Khan and Jane Powers, intertwined in our Inez Greenberg Gallery at the Bloomington Center for the Arts.
ENDEMIC BY FAWZIA KHAN – I am interested in what unites us. My hope is to spark a deep conversation amongst the viewers through which they see the “other’s” point of view and in doing so acknowledge our common humanity. This creates an opportunity for empathy and resolution. As an immigrant woman of color, a physician and a mother, I am concerned with issues of marginalization, gender inequities, and the balance between safety and freedom.
The topic of gun violence seems like a dismal and unlikely theme for an art exhibition, but art is a powerful voice that sifts through the chaff to reveal the kernel of wisdom at the center of any issue. We have to decide, as a society, where the balance lies between safety and liberty. How much of our individual freedom are we willing to give up to ensure the safety of our children, or do we accept a certain number of deaths each year in order to preserve a right to bear arms?
THE CULTURING OF GUNS BY JANE POWERS – While addressing complexities within cultural, political and ethical issues, two main themes permeate my work. One explores aspects of the rapidly advancing biomedical field. This show examines the second amendment, and the impulses for and the consequences of guns in our country. Considering the multifaceted issues surrounding our human psychology, how do states of mind, such as fear, alienation and hopelessness contribute to and are violent conflicts a release of distress from life experiences?
Questions I am thinking about are, how do long standing family and community traditions and points of view impact how we think and act? What profit incentives drive the production and exchange of weapons and how do corporate and government politics come into play?
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
FAWZIA KHAN is a multidisciplinary artist from Hopkins, MN, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria to Pakistani parents and emigrated to the U.S. at the age of twelve. Her practice as a sculptor and multidisciplinary artist includes working with a variety of media and techniques, and choosing what best suits the concept. She creates socially conscious bodies of work that engage viewers and open a space for dialogue and reflection. www.fawziakhanart.com
JANE POWERS is a mixed media sculptor and participatory public artist working with a range of processes and materials including ceramics, cast iron, cast resin, cast rubber, electronics and video. Jane received a BFA in 1992 and MFA in 1998 in sculpture from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Jane’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows locally and nationally and have received several State Arts Board grants, a MRAC Next Step grant and a Forecast R&D grant. janepowersart.com