Artists in Conversation: Margaret Crowley and Karen Reimer
Monday, December 30 , 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm CST
Join artists Karen Reimer and Margaret Crowley for a conversation in connection with Crowley’s exhibition at University Galleries, Hazard.
Hazard premieres new paintings and sculptures addressing the industries and textures of “health, wellness, and pain management” by Chicago-based artist and Illinois State University alum Margaret Crowley. She explores the effects of manual labor and how the repetition of overuse mirrors the repetition of repair. The exhibition title alludes to occupational hazards and serves as a warning.
Crowley frequently references family labor histories, whether her father’s background as a welder or the decades her mother worked as a hairstylist. Following nearly a year of accompanying her mother to physical therapy appointments meant to aid in her recovery from an occupational injury, Crowley began translating those experiences into gouache-on-silk paintings. Rather than depicting a figure or scenes of the clinic, the artist explores, in her words, the “particularities of repeated visits to a space.” Examples include the ubiquitous timers that keep track of the bodies’ necessary movements toward healing, a cheerful row of pet-portrait snapshots that adorn the wall, the radio that provides constant background noise and rhythms for the staff and clients, a therapist’s informative badge with decorative elements added to its lanyard, and every tiny detail of the anti-fatigue floor mats that aid in prolonged standing. Multiple works were inspired by the therapists’ mobile carts that overflow with tools used to manipulate and heal, often via close, precise encounters between two bodies. Meanwhile, her newest work takes the form of an exercise strap, which is often used in the appointments for stretching and increasing flexibility. In Crowley’s version, the strap is 4-5 times the typical length, made of silk, populated by small paintings, and draped through the exhibition space.
Crowley uses her mother’s MRI scans to introduce the exhibition. She sees them as “containers for decades of work, relationships, and repetition.” She continues, “The MRI feels like a prompt, or an origin point, for the whole project.” Throughout her work, Crowley asks why we subject our bodies to these stresses, particularly in the name of a “work ethic,” and what tolls they take on us individually and collectively.
