LAURA TANNER GRAHAM

September 28, 2017 (New Orleans, LA)  JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is pleased to present Campaign Julienne, the debut solo exhibition of Tucson-based artist Laura Tanner Graham.  Known for her meticulous drawings on hand cut mylar, Graham will unveil a series of new work with underlying socio-political commentaries. The exhibition will be on view from 4 through 27 October with an opening reception on Saturday 7 October in conjunction with the annual Art for Arts’ Sake, an event that brings thousands of patrons to the Arts District New Orleans (ADNO) and through the gallery.

Graham discusses her newest pieces. . .

This body of work began with the start of the presidential primaries.  The months before and after the election managed to uncover many unresolved battles of America’s complicated history – contentious race relations, sexism, nativism, and an ever-growing wage gap. The drawings in this exhibition record the inconsistencies of a society that simultaneously proclaims itself to be “post-racial” and “post-gender” while identifying with a “pull-yourself-up-by-the-boot-straps” mentality.  I collage historical publicized images - advertisements, campaign posters, newspaper photographs and printed textiles - that parallel our current political and social climates into a singular narrative composition to document the cyclical and systemic nature of marginalization in America.  The drawings capitalize on America’s propensity for nostalgia and decorum, luring the viewer into facing these inequities through the detached lens of that which has already happened.