Tracing an Outline Around a Man’s Shadow

Curated by Nina Friedman, Director at the Tomayko Foundation

August 1 - September 13, 2024

Participating artists: Atticus Adams, Ed Panar, Michael Morrill, La Vispera, and Aaronel deRoy Gruber

Tracing an Outline Around a Man’s Shadow is a group exhibition of works that explore shadows, casted light, color, and negative space. Six artists working across entirely different mediums and thematic concepts come together, playfully casting shadows, capturing darkness, and employing materials that diffuse light in unique cascades and hues.

The exhibition’s title is a reference to the myth of the Corinthian Maid, who, in an effort to capture the likeness of her lover before he went off to war, drew an outline of his shadow on the wall behind him as he slept. The myth, recounted by numerous philosophers throughout history, is often referenced as the birth of painting, and as humanity’s primary foray into the depiction of the self. When considering the shadow’s mythical place in history to bring us out of the proverbial darkness, one discovers that it has also been associated with the soul, evil, and the self’s own doppelganger. A shadow’s many associations serve as a psychological mirror to our existential fear and wonder and is explored here by the containment and diffusion of light and darkness within the gallery setting.

Simultaneously highlighting the psychological impacts of shadows and darkness, Tracing an Outline Around a Man’s Shadow explores materiality through the various mediums employed by each artist. In focusing on the presence of each work, how can viewers contend with the underlying nothingness that gives a shadow its unique significance? In approaching each work, viewers will find that the fleeting intangibility, which is a central element of both shadows and light, acts as a unifying force throughout the exhibition.

Installation images by Chris Uhren: