LOUISVILLE, KY (January 25, 2023) KMAC Contemporary Art Museum ("KMAC"), Louisville's premier contemporary art museum, is excited to announce the opening of Tel Aviv-Yafo based artist Liora Kaplan's first United States solo exhibition. This inaugural event titled The Lighthouse is Dark Between Flashes will present new works in her ongoing series of totemic sculptures that incorporate found mid-20th century ceramics from Israel. A free-to-the-public exhibition launch party will be held on Thursday, February 3rd, 2023, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with the exhibition on view from February 4th, 2023, through April 9th, 2023.
Kaplan combines her found ceramic objects with new elements made from materials including wood, leather, metal, glass, and stone. Formally inspired, in part, by historical drawings for ornate fountains, the natural world, and the work of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncusi, her towering sculptures function as signals for the creative forces that connect us to nature, to each other and to our shared histories. Standing as pillars for Kaplan's foundational influences in art, craft, philosophy, and music, her works become beacons that guide the viewer into her blended visions of retro futurist design and otherworldly contraption.
In developing a personal and intellectual affinity for the shapes, textures, and history that informed such objects, Kaplan's practice has now become devoted to the physical presence of the ceramic vessels and the desire to transform them into talismans with transportive powers. Her work conveys a simultaneous sense of a journey to an ancient temple and a trip toward an unknown future landscape flourishing with new visionary architectonic forms.
The sculptural works created for this exhibition aim to trigger the potential of human creativity and craft to generate reflections and ruminations that go beyond cultural constructions and therefore open up a space filled with unforeseen associations. Enhancing such a scenario, the exhibition is enriched by a soundscape created by the musician, producer, and string instrumentalist Ohad Elkouby, who extracted and sampled sound through physically playing the vases.
In bringing her work to KMAC, her sculptures will become part of a new dialogue involving the insights and the ideas of viewers from Louisville and those visiting from outside the region. The Lighthouse is Dark Between Flashes is made possible in part by the Carole Oppenheim and Jerome Lamet Charitable Fund, and the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation in memory of Alfred R. and Mary N. Shands; and Leslie & James Millar and The Trager Family Foundation, both of Louisville.
Please join us for Vernissage, an exhibition launch party celebrating the opening of The Lighthouse is Dark Between Flashes on Thursday, February 3rd, 2023, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Our recurring Vernissage events feature hors d'oeuvres and libations and are free to the public. There will be a private preview on the same day from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. featuring exclusive access to Kaplan's artist talk, additional curatorial insights and reception. For further information and tickets to the private preview, please contact Kris Thompson, Development and Special Projects Manager at (502) 589-0102 or kris@kmacmuseum.org.
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About KMAC Contemporary Art Museum (kmacmuseum.org) KMAC is Louisville's premier contemporary art museum and is in historic downtown on Museum Row. KMACs goal is to educate and inspire while promoting a better understanding of art through exhibitions, education, and collections. The Museum explores the relationship between art and craft by identifying art as the big idea and craft as the intersection between process, materials, and labor. The museum connects people to art and creative practice.
