Body Politic

Exhibition of artwork by Christa Carleton and Tonja Torgersen

Description

Bodies have always been a point of control, debate, and controversy within our society. Printmakers Christa Carleton and Tonja Torgerson make work to highlight the tumultuous position of the body and gender roles.

The exhibition presents a series of collaborative prints, all focused on political themes associated with the figurative nude. Using letterpress, screenprint, and woodcut, these prints reference broadsides and use the impact of print-media to destabilize current ideas on gender roles and our bodies.

Mailing these prints back and forth from Indiana to Montana, the artists are responding to one another and these topics layer by layer, building a dialogue across the country and within each print. Stark, nude figures are combined with bold, aggressive text that challenge the expectations which are put upon them.

About the artists

Tonja Torgerson received her BFA from the University of Minnesota and MFA in Printmaking at Syracuse University. Her artwork is regularly exhibited nationally and internationally and is in several museum collections, such as the Weisman Art Museum and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Torgerson has been a resident artist at West Virginia Wesleyan College, the Lawrence Arts Center, Fogo Island, Artist Image Resource of Pittsburgh, and New York Mills, Minnesota. She is a Lecturer of Printmaking at Indiana University.

Christa Carleton received her BFA from Western Colorado University and MFA in Printmaking from Montana State University. Christa works regularly in screenprint and woodcut, but letterpress is where her loyalties lie. She is currently a screenprint technician at a textile printing business in Missoula, MT and pursues her artistic practice on top of her full time job. While being an artist is a huge part of her identity it isn't her only love. Christa enjoys cooking vegetarian food, gardening, hiking with her dog, and listening to podcasts.

Hours

11am-4pm Tuesday through Saturday

Closed Sunday and Monday

Reception

6-8pm Thursday October 13

Location

Metzger Galleries

Cummings Center 4th floor

University of Akron

Wearing face coverings and being up-to-date on Covid-19 vaccinations are strongly recommended at this location.