Fri 6/2 @ 6-8PM
Akron-based painter Katie Butler, who has a BFA from the University of Akron and an MFA from Kent State University, has shown her work in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, and will be doing a residency in Germany this summer. But her mind is firmly focused on what’s going on in Ohio, as her new show State of the State, opening at Abattoir Gallery this week, demonstrates.
You can feel the rage many of us share radiating from these intricate, skilled paintings, which draw their crowded imagery from a plethora of sources, including classic works from the 16th and 17th century, to comment on the political extremism in the Ohio Statehouse.
The Statehouse provides the backdrop for the images, packed with references to the radical, unpopular bills right-wing legislators are ramming into law. She zeroes in on two in particular: reproductive rights and gun control, critiquing in complex imagery the impact of SB 23 (the “heartbeat” bill) and SB 215 (permitless carry) with citizens protesting the bills appearing in the background as legislators ignore their interests. Each painting is titled with the number of the bill it refers to.
“The title work, ‘State of the State,’ sets the general stage for the show, depicting corridors in the Statehouse, including period furniture, as a backdrop to a kitchen table laden with game and fish, skewered and ready for consumption,” the artist statement says. Obviously, the “game” ready for consumption is us.
The show opens with a free, public reception Friday June 2 @ 6-8pm and will be on view through Saturday July 29.