About the Exhibition
The Elevate at 21c program presents temporary exhibitions for artists living and working in the communities surrounding each 21c Museum Hotel property. Elevate provides hotel guests with unique access to the work of notable regional artists, while featuring their work in the context of 21c’s world-class contemporary art collection. On your next visit to Bentonville, simply ask at the front desk in order to view the Elevate exhibits on the guest room floors.
On view from September 2018- March 1, 2019, Elevate at 21c Bentonville presents the following three artists:
Hubert Neal Jr. (Bentonville, AR)
Rodney King #2, 2018
Maybe, Possibly, One Day, Hopefully, 2018
I didn’t see anything
Acrylic on canvas
The graphic figures in Hubert Neal Jr.’s paintings enact stark representations of both violent conflict as well as a gesture of peaceful reconciliation. An artist of Belizean descent, Neal’s symbolic, confrontational images deal plainly with all-too-common instances of conflict between African American men and law enforcement, while also offering inspiration and hope for social progress as it relates to race in America.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Hubert Neal Jr. is an American artist of Belizean descent. Hailing from Chicago, he currently lives and works in Bentonville, where he founded the visual poets society, an art studio and gallery. Neal has studied art at the Chicago Academy for the Arts and The School of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University. Neal’s work has been shown in Jamaica, Belize, and India, as well as New York, Chicago, and Miami.
Elise Raborg (Fayetteville, AR)
Reverence (For a Dog), 2018
Reverence (For a Dog) II, 2018
Ceramic, acrylic paint, oil paint
Cat Whisker Collection, 2018
Wood, velvet, thread, cat whiskers
A beloved and well-used piece of furniture anchors Elise Raborg’s exploration of space, memory, and the everyday intimacy of routine presence. Couch cushions shaped by the weight of the human body evoke an intimate familiarity with the textures and colors associated with familiar spaces and objects. Above the ceramic couches a patch of velvet fabric from the original couch forms a reliquary, preserving the whiskers, and presence, of a companion who once shared the couch with the artist.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Elise Raborg grew up in Oklahoma and moved to Arkansas five years ago. She lives on an island of undeveloped farmland in the middle of town with two dogs and a carpenter. Elise is currently pursuing a BFA from the University of Arkansas School of Art with emphases in painting and ceramics. Elise is romanced by color and shape. She is interested in exploring specific atmospheres through color spaces, temperature, and pressure created between shapes. Elise’s artistic practices bleed into all aspects of her life…pooling in small sculptural installations in and around her home and the places she frequents, creating a continuous dialogue between home life and studio practice.
Aimée Papazian (Fayetteville, AR)
Murmuration (with Stripe) I & II, 2017
Black porcelain, stoneware, wire, wood
Hundreds of ceramic bird-like elements assume a large organic form referencing the phenomenon of murmuration–when thousands of individual starlings fly together forming darting, swirling shapes in the sky. Papazian relates these instances to contemporary politics, as individuals form into groups, “shifting together as one entity.” She inquires, “Whose whims are we subject to, and are we just paying attention to the birds closest to us?”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Aimée Papazian creates installations and sculptures using ceramics and mixed media. Originally an experimental filmmaker, she switched mediums and now creates primarily ceramic work. Her films and ceramic sculptures have been exhibited in major cities across the US. She recently completed an artist residency at Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark. She has a BA in Art-Semiotics from Brown University and an MFA from Bard College. Aimée grew up in New York and now lives in Northwest Arkansas with her family.
