Two new exhibitions to open at Art After Hours on October 20, 2022

DOTHAN, Alabama — October 16, 2022 — The Wiregrass Museum of Art (WMA) will open new exhibitions on the evening of Thursday, October 20 at its monthly Art After Hours event, which will be on view until December 31, 2022.

“entwined” is an exhibition of work by Pinky/MM Bass and Carolyn DeMeritt, long-time collaborators and friends. Addressing themes of incarnation, aging, death, and regeneration, Bass’s work explores the complexity of materials, with photography at the core and the body as subject. DeMeritt’s photography showcases Bass as subject, capturing her “infinite grace” while aging. Their work is both bold and vulnerable as it invites the viewer into a unique and complex world crafted over the course of 35 years.

Pinky/MM Bass is a self-described (feminist and spiritualist) seeker of life’s mysteries who lives in Fairhope, Alabama. At the age of 52, she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Photography at Georgia State University; her work has been featured in more than 50 solo exhibitions, and has been shown internationally and throughout the United States. A native of Charlotte, NC, photographer and videographer Carolyn DeMeritt concentrates on creating portraits of people or places that are underrepresented or undergoing dramatic change. Her work is included in museum, corporate and private collections, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts; North Carolina Museum of Art; Mint Museum of Art; High Museum of Art; Tweed Museum of Art and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

A second exhibition set to open at Art After Hours, “seam/seem”, features work by Huntsville, Alabama-based artist Heather Baumbach, including large scale sculpture, fiber arts, and weaving. This solo exhibition at WMA was awarded to Baumbach as part of WMA’s partnership with ArtFields through a Partner Award, a distinction earned from the annual art competition at ArtFields Collective, a Lake City, South Carolina organization working to honor the artists of the Southeast with a week’s worth of celebration and competition in the heart of a traditional Southern small town. WMA participated as a sponsoring organization, providing a selected artist with a solo exhibition in the museum’s galleries.

“My work explores the fertile seam of representation and abstraction where the body intersects with the exterior environment, combining opposing registers of both the physically attractive and evocatively disturbing. By employing sculpted fiber as a surrogate for the body, the skin, and clothing my practice examines both the physical and social space the body holds including themes of adornment, protection, and exposure,” said Baumbach.

Heather Baumbach is pursuing an MFA from Lesley University in Boston and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she received a BFA in Costume Design. Her exhibition includes two opportunities for WMA visitors to learn more about her process and techniques: a free Visiting Artist in the Gallery program on November 19th, from 10-11am, and a Visiting Artist Workshop on Improvised Fiber Sculptures immediately following, from 11am-1pm. The workshop is $40 for museum members, and $50 for not-yet members. Registration and more information is available at https://www.wiregrassmuseum.org/visiting-artist-series/.

“Collaborating with Pinky and Carolyn, and Heather to create new exhibitions for our area residents has been a great reminder of how artists’ works and perspectives have the power to bring people together, and how they offer the opportunity for important cultural conversation. WMA is proud to provide a platform for this kind of exchange with “entwined” and “seam/seem”, and I’m hopeful that visitors to WMA will use art as a lens to understand the world around them,” said Dana-Marie Lemmer, WMA’s executive director and curator.

Additional exhibitions on view during Art After Hours include Mary Ann Sampson: Puppets and Poetry, Make Others See: Selected Works from WMA’s Teaching Artists, and Selections from the Permanent Collection.

Exhibitions will open during Art After Hours on Thursday, October 20th, from 5:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Admission is free for members, and $5 for not-yet members. Art After Hours will offer a cash bar, artmaking stations, and live music from Patrick Pezelj.

About Wiregrass Museum of Art

Wiregrass Museum of Art inspires a lifelong appreciation for the visual arts by providing innovative educational programs that engage diverse audiences through the collection and exhibition of quality works. Since its inception in 1987, WMA has offered educational programs, nationally-acclaimed art exhibitions and community events throughout the year. Its Board of Trustees guides the long-term vision and strategic goals, while its membership, City and County support, and grant funding provide the resources needed to fulfill its mission.

WMA’s galleries are open to the public every Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., and Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment. General admission is always free.