Vadis Turner, "Scylla," 2022, curtains, gravel, resin, acrylic and steel, 78 x 112 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the artist.Works by artist Vadis Turner will be on exhibition June 9-Aug. 12, presented by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts.
Drinking gold was a relatively common practice for those seeking eternal youth at various points throughout human history. Turner uses this misguided tradition and several stories of mythological, historical and literary female outcasts as a loose conceptual foundation for the AEIVA exhibition “She Drank Gold.” Through her new body of work, Turner references historical notions of female hysteria and ostracism, the expressive formalism of the grid in art, and the physical properties of textiles and metal.
An opening reception is planned from 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 9, in AEIVA, 1221 10th Ave. South. AEIVA is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission is free and open to the public. Visit uab.edu/aeiva for more information. Also on exhibition are works by Delrico Gibson, “Strings of Gratitude,” and Lavaughan Jenkins’ “The Watcher and the Watchman.”
Turner explores the transformative possibilities, misbehaviors and storied abstraction of domestic materials. Textiles and other elements are manipulated to transcend their intended functions, contradict their structural natures and transcend their traditional gender association. Resisting categorization, the works occupy spaces between textile, painting and sculpture.
Vadis Turner, "Conduit," 2021, bedsheets, rebar, copper leaf, cement, acrylic, resin and thread, 80 x 72 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist.Turner was awarded the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant in 2016. Her first solo museum exhibition was presented at the Frist Art Museum in 2017. Turner’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, 21C Museum, Kentucky Museum of Arts and Crafts, Tennessee State Museum, Huntsville Museum of Art, and the Hunter Museum of American Art. Her work has been presented at numerous museums and institutions, including the ICA Portland, Andy Warhol Museum, The Bunker Artspace, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Islip art Museum, Knoxville Museum, Susquehanna Museum of Art and Cheekwood Museum. Residencies include Yaddo, Museum of Arts & Design, Materials for the Arts, Hambidge Center, and a fellowship at Vermont Studio Center. She has been featured in Artforum, Art Papers, the New York Times, Hyperallergic, Two Coats of Paint, Burnaway, Wallpaper*, Elle Magazine, Vanityfair.com, Observer, Artnet and White Hot Magazine.
Turner’s projects have been funded by the Barbara Demming Memorial Fund, South Arts, Tennessee Arts Commission and The Current Art Fund, a TriStar Arts regranting program through the Andy Warhol Foundation. Turner received BFA and MFA degrees from Boston University. She teaches at Vanderbilt University and is represented by Geary in Millerton, New York.