A SKY OF SHATTERED GLASS REFLECTED BY THE SHINING SUN
Stephanie Mercedes
January 14 - March 4, 2023
open to the public Saturdays from 11 am - 2 pm
Culture House presents Stephanie Mercedes, A SKY OF SHATTERED GLASS REFLECTED BY THE SHINING SUN. The exhibition is on view from January 14 to March 4, 2023, and is open each Saturday from 11 am – 2 pm. No appointments are required. The artist will be present to meet with visitors during the opening reception on Friday, January 27, from 6-9 pm.
““Percussion music is revolution. Sound and rhythm have too long been submissive to the restrictions of nineteenth-century music. Today we are fighting for their emancipation… healthy lawlessness is warranted. An experiment must be necessary… What we can’t do ourselves will be done by machines we will invent.””
Through sound, drawings, motors, and metal casting, a series of installations in this exhibition reflect on the vulnerability of the queer body. Materials used in the show include melted bullets, destroyed weapons, soap, wax, and seeds. Sonic landscapes embody the material transformations to which the sculptures allude. Rather than framing vulnerability as a weakness, these works invite the viewer to consider vulnerability as a weapon.
Join us Friday, January 27, from 6-9 PM to meet the artist and explore the exhibition
“Sonic Fracture” (2022) is drawn from sounds made by the artist throwing bullet casings into her crucible. Different pitches and tones are pulled from the sounds and are transformed into a composition. Cast forms made through this process to reflect the sounds are scattered on the floor, made from soap, bullet casings, aluminum, bronze, and wax.
About the Artist
Stephanie Mercedes is a Queer Latinx artist based in Washington, D.C. Mercedes works freely between sound, metal casting, performance, and installation art. Mercedes has exhibited and performed at the Bronx Museum, the Smithsonian, the Kennedy Center, and the National Gallery of Art. She has received funding and support from George Soro’s Open Society Foundation, the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, Andy Warhol Foundation, WPA, NALAC, The Foundation for Contemporary Art, Light Works, and the GLB Memorial Foundation. She is currently a fellow at the University of Maryland and producing an experimental Opera, “Never in Our Image,” from February - September 2023 with Cultural DC.
The gallery is open to the public January 14 - March 4, 2023 on Saturdays from 11 am – 2 pm and by appointment.