‘Selvage’ Exhibit Features Work of Jim Arendt
Artist Jim Arendt sees denim in a particular way, and he has used that inspiration to create an exhibition that will be featured by the College of Southern Maryland through March 9, 2017, called “Selvage.” Denim is durable and still wearable despite being faded, stained, or ripped, and for Mr. Arendt that is the perfect representation of the human condition. His artwork explores that condition, and the way people are affected by economic stress.
Mr. Arendt said when he was a child, his father would work on his Wrangler jeans after work, working at the sewing machine to attach patches and make repairs. “He was making do — a concept of thrift and pragmatism that dictates you work with the materials at hand,” Mr. Arendt said. “By my early 20s, that memory mixed with the stories of other working people and led me to denim as a possible material that was much closer to the truth of their lives than oil paint.”
“Selvage” will be on display through March 9 at CSM and includes seven life-size, two- and three-dimensional figures by Mr. Arendt. The show will include an artist lecture by Mr. Arendt at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 7 on the La Plata Campus in the Learning Resource Center (LR Building), Room 102.
Mr. Arendt said he will talk about his inspiration for his art, including his need to understand our shifting relationship with labor and work.
“I grew up on a farm outside of Flint, Michigan, birthplace of General Motors and the United Auto Workers Union,” he said. “Our region underwent a radical shift in economics as the industrial and agrarian economies disappeared or were outsourced to different regions and countries. … The resulting impact on the lives of the people I grew up with has left an indelible mark on my outlook on our relationship with work as a concept as I seek to make sense of the narrative that unfolded.”
The artist’s work pushes viewers to confront the realities faced by working people. “Across the country a shift in monetary policy, commodity prices, and globalization were rapidly closing the longest period of economic expansion in American history. A disruption to people’s traditional livelihoods and economic status has driven the rise of darker and more primal impulses in the past. Now, we confront a period of similar anger and instinct toward protectionism. History has a way of rhyming; here’s to hoping we stick the landing.”
Mr. Arendt is the director of the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery and an assistant professor at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. His work has been exhibited internationally in numerous group and solo shows. Recently, Arendt was short-listed for the 1858 Prize for Contemporary Southern Art and received the South Carolina Arts Commission Visual Artist Fellowship.
His work was awarded the $50,000 top prize at ArtFields, Best in Show at Hub-Bub Gallery’s Emerging Carolina, and was included in the 701 Contemporary Center for the Arts 701 CCA Prize 2012. He was awarded Best in Show during Fantastic Fibers at Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Kentucky, included in Fiberarts International 2013 and 2016, and the 2013 Museum Rijswijk Textile Biennial, Netherlands.
He received a bachelor of fine arts degree from Kendall College of Art & Design and his master of fine arts from the University of South Carolina. He participated in residency programs including The Fields Project in Illinois, Arrowmont’s Tactility Forum, and has been invited instructor at Penland School of Craft and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.
After “Selvage,” the last exhibition this season at CSM will be the Annual Juried Student Exhibition from April 10 to May 5. Submissions for the student exhibition will be accepted from March 28 to April 1. The jury will select exhibition works April 5.
Both “Selvage” and the Annual Juried Student exhibitions will be at the Tony Hungerford Memorial Art Gallery at the La Plata Campus Fine Arts Center. The gallery is open 9 am to 9 pm Monday through Friday and 10 am to 6 pm Saturday. Artist lectures are usually held Tuesday afternoons and are free and open to the public. Visit the college’s website for more information. For more on Jim Arendt, visit his website.
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