“A feather plucked from its bird” and “Fill the Void”

Opening reception Jan. 29, 5-8 pm at Dreamsong, 1247 4th St. NE. Benjamin Merritt’s exhibition, “A feather plucked from its bird”, is titled after his eponymous new artist’s book, a variable collection of unbound handmade prints produced through multiple printmaking processes. Merritt works from copperplate etchings, scraping away the copper to transpose a long history of gestures and marks on the final print. His practice serves as a vehicle to think through his body, tracing it through layers of marks and poetry to create a communal, reflective space for what it means to be sick. The works in “Fill the Void” highlight the unseen through tactics of elision, obfuscation, and erasure. These tactics draw tension between visibility and invisibility, temper legibility, and interrogate the misrepresentation of marginalized subjects. In a world where masking is a necessary social norm and the practice of picturing absence has become commonplace, “Fill the Void” reminds us that what we do not see is just as critical as what’s visible. Featuring the works of Cory Arcangel, Sadie Barnette, Crystal Z Campbell, Jonathan Rosemond, Gary Simmons, Joe Smith, and Paul Anthony Smith.