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KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON

The River of Forget

August 2 – 28, 2010

KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON III The River of Forget, [Main Gallery Installation View]
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON III The River of Forget, [Main Gallery Installation View]
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON III The River of Forget, [Main Gallery Installation View]
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON III The River of Forget, [Main Gallery Installation View]
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON III The River of Forget, [Main Gallery Installation View]
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON, Rebuilding is a red hot topic; it's all about working together, piece by piece, 2010
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON, We really do need those barrier islands and marshlands, 2010
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON, The zig zag room was my favorite at Ponchartrain Beach, 2010
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON, Sitting in metal buckets of cold water was a sure sign summer was here, 2010
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON, Cargo ships cruise cautiously on the Mississippi, 2010
KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON, On Sundays, I loved riding with my family on the high curved bridge over the pond in city park, 2010

PRESS RELEASE ::: KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON --- The River of Forget

JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is pleased to present The River of Forget featuring new works by artist KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON in her first solo exhibition with the gallery since 2008. The exhibition includes large abstract works on canvas as well as sculptural pieces that will draw upon the idea of “The River of Forget” which is one of the five mythological underground Rivers that a soul must travel after death. The title is symbolic for Banton in several ways; one being that her mother is suffering from dementia, which, in itself, is a River of Forget. Secondly, the body of work draws on the question of whether New Orleanians should resign to the notion that forgetting the past is part of the recovery process after Hurricane Katrina. The exhibition is on view from August 2, 2010 through August 28, 2010 with an opening reception on Saturday August 7th from 6-9pm.

A question I ask myself is can we choose  which memories to keep and which we leave behind?  And, of course, for me the metaphor is all about the water...the river...the traveling...New Orleans is surrounded by the water, Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River.  Each painting begins with water, the staining and shifting of the pigment in the water, followed by intuitive mark making (both gestural and textural) and emotive reaction to my environmental landscape and to the landscape of my memories.

- Kathleen Ariatti Banton discussing The River of Forget

KATHLEEN ARIATTI BANTON received her BFA from Auburn University and her MFA from Boston University. She has exhibited her work across the country including the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey, Huntsville Museum of Art, Meridian Museum of Art, Alexandria Museum of Art, Zigler Museum of Art and Masur Museum of Art.She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including fellowships at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Ragdale Foundation in Illinois, the Hambidge Center in Georgia and Skidmore College in New York.Her work is in the permanent collection of the New Orleans Museum of Art, the City of New Orleans, Whitney National Bank, City Bank and Trust and Murphy, Rogers and Sloss and The First National Bank. She was recently commissioned to design and install a public art sculpture for the Jefferson Parish Courthouse just outside of New Orleans.

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