What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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AUGUST 23-29, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 5 Chaos Breeds Creativity Fenix Fayetteville artists address the pandemic FAYETTEVILLE "Chaos, Confusion, Creativity" includes this untitled work by Davis Bachman. The exhibit remains open through October at Fenix Fayetteville. (Courtesy Image) BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette S tay at home," reads an image in Laurie Foster's "Crosses and Losses 2020." "The world is temporarily closed." Foster took images of the pandemic that she found particularly moving — "vast empty New York streets, stacks of coffins and graveyards, health workers kitted out in PPE and older Americans trying to communicate between glass windows" — and turned them into a paper montage based on a vintage quilt pattern. "These images I found very disturbing as they are so foreign to our American experience," Foster says. "For many artists, the creations of this period will express a distillation of the actuality of the pandemic, the social unrest and the political chaos that are the American reality in 2020." Foster is one of the curators of "Chaos, Confusion, Creativity," a collection of artworks now on view at Fenix Fayetteville. Most of the gallery's members are included. "Some of the pieces that are particularly expressive of the times are David Bachman's beautiful, intensely dark series of mixed media drawings; Dale Heath's acrylic paintings of Lady Liberty; and Helen Kwiatkowski's '100 Millies' series, portraying images of her dog Millie, who has been her sole companion during the shutdown," Foster says. "Annie Edmondson also has created a strong abstract metal sculpture that I find very appealing. "The pandemic has had a profound effect on our group," she adds. "Some artists have reacted by delving deep into their personal lives and emotions while others have lashed out at the politics that have taken precedence over science. We are living through the most uncertain times that the majority of us have experienced." Fenix Gallery, located on the Fayetteville square, had just had a successful opening reception for an exhibit titled "Sewn In" on March 5. Then news of the pandemic started capturing page 1 headlines. "It was a shock to have to close the gallery down in March," Foster remembers. "As a member of the Fenix leadership group, I kept watching the news media predicting horrible scenarios about covid-19. When the governor finally shut down the schools, we all decided it was time to close the gallery in hopes that we could wait out the virus, and it would pass over Fayetteville. "During the lockdown, the Fenix members continued to meet via Zoom and tried to rearrange the exhibit schedule, thinking this would be a short-lived shutdown," she continues. See Fenix Page 40 FAQ 'Chaos, Confusion, Creativity' WHEN — Until Oct. 31; gallery hours are 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Thursday & Friday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Satur- day WHERE — Fenix Fayette- ville, 16 W. Center St. in Fayetteville COST — Free INFO — 651-1852 or email fenixfayettevilleart@ gmail.com