Art CLP: ‘Home Bodies’ exhibition closing reception

“Home Bodies,” a three-person collaborative art exhibition with art faculty Kevin Kao and student artists Emma Gambrill and Bella Quick, is hosting a closing reception Friday, Sept. 8, 6-8:00 p.m. The exhibition features several new colorful sculptures that infuse play, identity and whimsy into domestic spaces as a response to post-pandemic anxieties. This closing reception will feature a panel talk featuring Kao and Stephen Mandravelis, art historian and new director of Furman’s Thompson Gallery of Art, that unpacks the exhibition’s conceptualization, process and central themes of the home as a place of embodiment and identity. A food a drink reception starts at 6 p.m. The panel talk begins at 6:30 p.m.

Mandravelis’ research on the art of the United States has been supported by institutions such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, SECAC, the Royster Society of Fellows, and has been disseminated in both national and international venues. Mandravelis has also curated several exhibitions of contemporary art across the Southeast, including the ConTEMPorary Cress Gallery and Bessie Smith Cultural Center.

Kevin Kao is assistant professor of art at Furman University. Kao has exhibited in more than 80 exhibitions internationally, with work shown in institutions such as the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California, and Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, Georgia.