What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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6 WHAT'S UP! OCTOBER 2-8, 2022 Exploring 'Pony Gate' Artist creates unique world at Famous Hardware APRIL WALLACE NWA Democrat-Gazette W hile doing an artist's residency in upstate New York, Amelia Briggs went driving around one day and spotted something that has stuck in her mind ever since. It was a pony gate, a literal entrance to a horse ranch that was made out of wood. Despite being worn down from the weather and age, its pastel colors were still vibrant. "It was really weird … really elaborate, so ridiculous," says Briggs. "I immediately came up with 'pony gate' and became interested in the phrase." Ponies, of course, are real, but our culture often means talking about them in a way as if they aren't. Briggs liked the idea of toying with that dichotomy in a work of art. "They seem mystical, like a joke, and it fits really well," Briggs says. She didn't have a way to take a photo the day that she spotted her inspiration, but it turns out she didn't need one after all. When she was accepted as the next artist to make an installation for the Famous Hardware building in downtown Springdale, commissioned by Creative Arkansas Community Hub and Exchange, Briggs knew she had exactly the thing for the unique space. Through a grouping of her old works and some of her new, Briggs would create an experience like the one she had in New York. "Pony Gate" is currently on display and will be in place through the end of November. Briggs gave an artist talk last week in Springdale. "Thinking about the space (of Famous Hardware), it's like it has two pillars in the front, covered in fur, like a gate," Briggs says. "You try to enter, but you can't." She likens it to the way that you can't ever really, fully know a person. You can explore and discover many things, but the internal is trickier, holds more mystery. Viewers of the exhibit can see a number of her abstract works in the windows of Famous Hardware, displayed on now-neon green walls, nestled above neon green carpet. Briggs is fascinated by the space, which she says lends itself to creating dioramas. Many of the artworks have odd shapes, a bit of sheen, or frames of fur. A couple of them are stand- alone pieces, one of which looks a bit mushroom like. If you peek into the front door, all you can see is a rainbow of satiny materials—"fun, colorful fabrics." "It's rare to find a place, manipulate a space like painting the walls, not all galleries are cool with that," Briggs says. Her work, composed of sewn, reclaimed fabrics, fiber oil and latex, has been shown in London, Paris and Florence, among other locales. She finds that her works are best Amelia Briggs began as a more traditional oil painter who was interested in the body, but as her work and interests grew, that morphed into incorporating elements that felt "cartoony." She began manipulating her canvases to make them more closely resemble objects. Now she uses mostly reclaimed materials from thrift stores, like bedsheets or materials dense enough to hold up to coatings of latex and paint. (Courtesy photo/Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange) SPRINGDALE FAQ 'Pony Gate' WHEN — Through the end of November WHERE — Famous Hardware Building, 113 W. Emma Ave. in Springdale COST — Free INFO — downtownspringdale. org