February 18, 2011: Opening Reception and Artist Talk

March 4, 2011: First Friday Reception

April 1, 2011: First Friday Reception

1708 Gallery is pleased to announce two exhibitions opening on February 18. Keith Lemley's Something and Nothing and Kimberly Witham's Transcendence ask the viewer to pause and contemplate the underlying beauty of re-contextualized everyday phenomena.

On Friday, February 18 the exhibition will open with a reception from 6:00 to 8 p.m. The evening will feature talks by both artists beginning at 6:30 p.m. The exhibition will close on Saturday, April 16 at 4 p.m.

Keith Lemley's sculptural installation consists of concentric rings of white neon tubes the paths of which mimic the natural variation found in the logs at their center. Lemley creates a space for dialogue between nature and the machine by filling the gallery with artificial light that is delivered through seemingly organic forms. By combining the everyday occurrence of perceiving light with an unusual delivery method, Something and Nothing calls attention to "the phenomenology of sight, the physiology of perception, and the experience of being a living body in space."

Kimberly Witham's photographs document the everyday animals of suburbia whose roadside deaths are often ignored. Her work is inspired by the Victorian practice of photographing the deceased and the use of an ironic relationship between presentation and subject matter. Witham's unsettling photographs in which "the deceased appear to be sleeping peacefully" call attention to our society's decimation of natural habitats.

Keith Lemley has shown work in many major US cities and in Budapest. He has had solo exhibitions at such venues as the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Lawrence Art Center in Lawrence, Kansas. To learn more, visit Lemley's website: www.keithlemley.com

Witham has shown her work nationally and has been the recipient of two Antonio Cirino grants from the Rhode Island Foundation. She has shown work in such venues as The Houston Center for Photography and the Perkins Center for the Arts in New Jersey. To learn more, visit Witham's website: www.kimberlywitham.com