STrange Etiquette
January 17, 2020 – February 1, 2020
salonlb. | Chicago
Artists: Bobbi Meier, Iris Parke, Lauren Brescia
Exhibition Design: Lauren Brescia and Scott Renfro
Exhibition Photography: Iron + Honey
Event Photography and Videography: Donna Neddo, Jarron Boger
STRANGE ETIQUETTE is a collaborative exhibition with Chicago-based artist Bobbi Meier, featuring a retrospective of Meier's "sensuous, slightly frightening, and grotesquely humorous" sculptures and drawings, presented in a surreal environment fashioned by salonlb. in response to the work. The menagerie of whimsical objects and nostalgic vignettes subvert expected customs of form and function, transporting visitors into a realm of distortedly vintage spectacle. The opening reception features two performance pieces by Meier created in collaboration with contemporary dancer Iris Parke and visual artist Lauren Brescia, followed by a live auction of unique artworks created during the performances.
Bobbi Meier is a Chicago-based visual artist working in sculpture, drawing, photography, and installation. Producing work that is sensuous, slightly frightening, and grotesquely humorous has become a means to engage discomfort and anger with situations that cannot be changed. Life’s frustrations and the human condition are embedded into her abstract sculptures, drawings, and installations through juxtaposition of delicate and aggressive material manipulation. Ms. Meier has been awarded residencies at; The John Michael Kohler Arts/Industry Program, The Ragdale Foundation, The Vermont Studio Center, Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist's Residency, Anderson Ranch, and Sanskriti-Kendra, in New Delhi. Her work has been exhibited widely in the Chicagoland area including; The Hyde Park Art Center, Roots & Culture Gallery, The International Museum of Surgical Science, to name a few. She earned her MA in Art Education (2000), and MFA in Fiber and Material Studies (2011), from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Bobbi Meier | Gates of Hell
Bobbi Meier | lovesuite
Bobbi Meier | Seeking Arrangement
Bobbi Meier | Rapt no. 1 + Rapt no. 2 Performance Set
Bobbi Meier | Quick Study, Bound Figure, Fishnets
Bobbi Meier | Failed Odalisque
Bobbi Meier | Attachments
Bobbi Meier | Seeking Arrangement
Bobbi Meier | Nude Forms Installation
Bobbi Meier | lovesuite
Bobbi Meier | Rapt no. 1 and Rapt no. 2
Bobbi Meier | Conversation Piece (erect)
Bobbi Meier | Tablescape
Bobbi Meier | Failed Odalisque (detail)
Bobbi Meier | Conversation Piece (erect)
Rapt (No.1) performance footage featuring dancer Iris Parke
Soft sculpture prothesis by Bobbi Meier
Sound Credit: Sergei Rachmaninoff, Prelude in C sharp minor (Op. 3 No. 2)
Photography: Donna Neddo
Rapt (No. 1) and Rapt (No. 2)
Bobbi Meier, January 2020
Two Performances with Soft Sculpture prosthesis.
A collaboration between visual artist, Bobbi Meier, dancer/performer, Iris Parke, Lauren Brescia and Scott Renfro.
“The object is soft and wraps around the body. It’s difficult to maneuver. Drawings flow from body parts through an encasement of soft forms. Angry actions are stifled by softness. How will my life experiences manifest from this crazy paraphernalia I have created? Wrapped or rapt, afraid to perform on my own, a stand-in does it for me.
Embracing the frustration, hindrance and awkwardness of wearing this device and making art with it is a way to actively include the whole body in a mark-making experience. It is simultaneously athletic, cathartic and humorous. Memories of listening to my mother’s intense interpretations of piano masterpieces provided inspiration for the use of sound in these performances. I am forever grateful to her for introducing me to her world of music and her support of my life as an artist.”