‘New Renaissance’ at Hygienic
Anti-heroes are celebrated in exhibit that opens tonight in New London’s Hygienic Galleries. Featured are works by four visual artists who see what they do as a catalyst of change. Daybreak,
Anti- heroes are celebrated in “New Renaissance,” an exhibit opening tonight at New London’s Hygienic Galleries. Featured are works by four visual artists who see what they do as a catalyst for social change; through their art, they seek to empower viewers to actualize that change in the world.
Travis Gibbs, who is also one of the exhibiting artists, organized the show.
A New London native, Gibbs has been an artist- in- residence at the Hygienic for over four years, during which time his ANTI-HERO Project has continually evolved. More than 30 of his powerful pieces in ink and graphite with some Photoshop highlights are on display.
A graduate of New London High School, Gibbs did not attend art school after graduation. He is a self-taught artist, but emphatically states that he takes his work seriously.
“I was studying advanced anatomy in sixth grade while everyone was playing Super Mario Brothers,” he says.
“Art is a lot like boxing. If you want to be heard, you want to be one of the very best,” he continues. “I don’t ever want to waste anyone’s time and I take that very seriously as an artist.”
In his ANTI- HERO Project, Gibbs creates a world filled with characters that are actually extensions of himself.
“Throughout the loose narrative in (my artwork) I tell different spectrums of myself: the intensely rebellious side and then the part of me that has to put on my robot suit to work in corporate America. I’m trying to find that balance between actually living and being a corporate drone.”
Gibbs’s biggest influences in both his life and work are Mahatma Gandhi and Malcolm X, and he believes that art can be the impetus for meaningful change.
“I truly believe art is one of the fastest and most effective vehicles for influencing social change,” he says. “We have certain tag lines, like ‘art imitates life,’ but when you actually look at our society, you see how life imitates art. Brands of art spawn entire cultures, styles of dress, how people talk, howthey act. I don’t think the average person even realizes this happens.”
Also a performance artist, Gibbs explains how his multi-media project’s mission is to spark both conversation and action.
“The premise of the ANTI-HERO Project is a conceptual character study. It’s about a graffiti writer, who is trying to incite a revolution in a corporate-controlled police state,” he says. “And not unlike Orwell’s ‘1984,’ what it seeks to do is make people question the difference between complacency and fulfillment, what is organic thought and what is thought brought about through learned behavior, cultural conditioning. It seeks to challenge the way people view things. I think one of the most important things an artist can do is to get people to see a different perspective, to challenge the way they look at and feel about things.”
Choosing like-minded artists Gibbs sought out artists for the exhibit with a similar philosophy to his own.
He began with 10 artists and “whittled it down” to four, including himself.
Gibbs met painter Craig Strother and ceramics/ sculpture artist Ewa Grochowska through an art event at which they were all showing their work, hosted by Raw: CT—part of a nationwide independent arts organization, for artists, by artists.
“One thing I got to do was to gauge the reactions other people had to their work,” Gibbs says.
“I wanted to actually have proof that they had a level of ability beyond the norm. I heard many people say how unique and strong their work was.”
Besides creating different styles of captivating art, Gibbs says the artists all have different styles of social activism.
Grochowska, a survivor of domestic violence, donates her time, supplies and portions of sales of her work to provide art programs to children in domestic violence shelters.
“The thing I love about Ewa’swork,” Gibbs says, “is the way she manipulates clay so it looks very soft and organic, but also very hard and (metallic). It’s fragile and strong at the same time. She incorporates all these rugged and harsh elements into something beautiful and positive, trying to empower beautiful and broken people, who’ve been through unnatural hardship.”
Strother is a Connecticut native and oil painter, whose extensive travels have provided inspiration for his work, which expresses his love of animals and nature.
“Craig’s work is phenomenal. He paints these sort of living environments that are almost entirely realistic yet mystical at the same time,” Gibbs says.
“He works at an animal shelter and is a veterinarian. He’s an environmentalist and gives back during his 9 to 5 — different than most of us — saving animal’s lives. He loves all animals.”
Scott Kaser of South Carolina paints en plein air landscapes that attempt to communicate the poetry and essence of place. He says of his work, “I want my paintings to have the power of memory.”
Kaser’s passion, like Strother’s, is animals and the environment, and he donates to national parks and wildlife organizations.
“I have a different style of activism from the rest of them,” Gibbs notes. “I go to protests (ranging) from climate change to addressing the growing nature of our ‘easy listening’ police state— more on the so- cio-political spectrum. Ewa’s more on the internal, the home front. Scott and Craig are on the environment.
“Ewa addresses the things we don’t talk about on the inside versus the things we don’t talk about on the outside, which I address,” Gibbs adds.
Most important, he says, “I’m hoping this show gives people a lot to talk about.”