Vadis Turner
During the creation of my marital Dowry, I became interested in the aesthetic bridges between diverse rites of passage. Elaborate ceremonies honor, idealize and purify the subject as they transition from one life chapter to the next. The subject simultaneously embodies a climax and demise. A new identity is conceived. An old identity dies.
In this body of work, elements of ceremonial adornment are partnered with processes of decay. Satin ribbons and flowers are fixed in a stilled state of destruction and removal inspired by fire or mold. Through consumption and repurposing, each process re-imagines the beauty and energy of change and loss.
Education
Boston University, School for the Arts, Boston, MA
MFA 2000, BFA 1999
Solo Exhibitions
2011 Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
Rymer Gallery, Nashville, TN
2010 Quirk Gallery, Richmond, VA
Green Building Gallery, Louisville, KY
2009 Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Tag Art Gallery, Nashville, TN
2007 Gallery Nulu, Louisville, KY
2006 Reflex Gallery, Paris, France
Holasek Weir Gallery, New York, NY
Sonia Rykiel, Art on Madison, New York, NY
We Ar Lounge, Designers & Agents, Los Angeles, CA, Tokyo, Japan, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 Extreme Materials 2, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY
24/7, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
Artists Ball, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Hidden Cities, Women’s Caucus for Art, New Century Artists, NYC
Basic Instinct, Flanders Gallery, Raleigh, NC
We The Artists, National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago
Here & Now, Lyons Wier Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Basic Instinct, Black and White Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Sixth Borough, No Longer Empty, Governor’s Island, NY
PILLOW Pageant, A.I.R. Gallery, DUMBO Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY
Critical Stitch, Union College, Schenectady, NY
Common Jive, Elizabeth Foundation For the Arts, New York, NY
Bunny Redux, Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, PA
2009 Spectrum 2009, Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
In Stitches, Lelia Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York, NY
New Acquisitions, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Remains of the Day, curated by Vadis Turner, Lyons Wier Gallry, New York, NY
Crafting Romance, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA
Hanging by a Tread, Westchester Arts Council, Westchester, NY
Narrative Thread, Lyons Weir Gallery, New York, NY
Fashion Forward, Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY
2008 Object Salon, White Space Gallery, London, England
Prague Triennial, National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Works on Paper, Lyons Weir Ortt, New York, NY
11th International Open, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Luxury of Love, Vanina Holasek Gallery, New York, NY
Let’s Bolt, Rock Paper Scissors Collective, Oakland, CA
2007 ArtHaus, Ethan Cohen Galley, Miami, FL
Modernature, Lotus Space, New York, NY
Conflux 2007, Metro Color Collision & Glowlab, Brooklyn, NY
NYC-5, in conjunction with a Keith Haring Retrospective, Egon Schiele Art Centrum, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Fame and Survival, Reflex Gallery, Paris, France
Sugar Buzz, Lehman Collage Art Gallery, Bronx, New York
Home & Object Design Fair, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
2006 Who’s That Girl, Vanina Holasek Gallery, New York, NY
Candy for Dinner, Remy Toledo Gallery, New York, NY
9 off 8th at 6, Crystalwood Gallery, Nashville, TN
Beast and the Beauty, Holasek Weir Gallery, New York, NY
Luxury Goods, Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY
2005 Frisbee Art Fair, Metro Color Collision, Miami, FL
Dear Bubble Tea, Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY
The Symbolic Defeat of Phi Slamma Jamma, Melody Weir Gallery, New York, NY
D.I.Y, Invisible NYC, New York, NY
You’re Not in Kansas Anymore, Melody Weir Gallery, New York, NY
Traces of Me, or How I Learned to Draw, Asterisk Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
Public Collections & Awards
2010 21C Museum, Louisville, KY
Kentucky Arts and Crafts Museum, Louisville, KY
2009 Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
Project Grant, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
2007 Egon Schiele Art Centrum, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Residencies, Memberships & Lectures
2010 KiptonART Curatorial Board
2009 Extra-Ordinary Workshop Speaker, Deitch Projects, Long Island City, NY
Visiting Artist, Union College, Schenectady, NY
Guest Artist, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Artist in Residence, Ensworth School, Nashville, TN
2008 - Present Brooklyn Museum Feminist Artist Database, Brooklyn, NY
2007 Egon Schiele Art Centrum, Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
2006 - 2009 EMERGENCY ARTS, founding member and artist in residence, New York, NY
2000 - 2002 Artist Member, Copley Society of Boston, Boston, MA
Bibliography
“This Brooklyn Gala was a Ball”, Williamsburg Courier, May 6th, 2011
“The Readymade 100”, ReadyMade Magazine, May 2011
“Out & About: Frogmore night at Vadis and Clay’s”, BomBlog, Jennifer Rodriguez, May 5, 2011
“A Burial Party”, Obit Magazine, April 2011
“See the Brooklyn Museum’s Artists Ball”, ARTINFO, May 2, 2011
“You Singin To Me”, New York Times, Sarah Maslin Nir, April 29, 2011
“Quo Vadis”, The Daily, Bill Bradley, February 8, 2011
“Vadis Turner”, New American Paintings, No. 92, Northeast Edition
“Greatest People Of The Day: Vadis Turner And Matthew Parker, Creators Of 'Nashville Counts, Huffington Post, Amy Lee, December 15, 2010
“Counting The Ways”, Nashville Scene, Margaret Renkl, November 24, 2010
“Nashville Counts”, Holland Brown Books, Vadis Turner (co-creator and contributing artist) and Matthew Parker, November 2010
“The Southern Invasion of NYC”, Garden & Gun, April/May 2010, Jessica Mischner
“Vadis Turner Dowry at The Green Building February 5, 2010” Consuming Louisville, February 2010
“Trousseau of Talent: A Q&A with Vadis Turner”, Vanityfair.com, May 14, 2009, Claire Howorth.
“Crafting Romance at ATHICA”, Athens Banner-Herald, May 7, 2009, Melissa Link.
“Payment in Full”, Bomb Magazine, April 23, 2009, David Goodman.
“Recycled Artwork for Forward Thinkers”, New York Times, April 12, 2009, Susan Hodara.
“Where Fashion Meets its Artistic Match”, New York Times, January 8, 2009, Benjamin Genocchio.
“An Interview with Vadis Turner”, White Hot, October 2008, Kofi Forson.
“10 Questions with Artist Vadis Turner”, HBOMB, 2008, Martabel Wasserman.
“Turner’s Artworks Manically Mimic Everyday Life”, The Tennessean, April 6, 2008, Jonathan Marx.
“Critic’s Pick”, Nashville Scene, April 2008, Joe Nolan.
“Women’s Work”, Ready Made Magazine, December 2007/January 2008, Anna McDonald.
“Explore”, Underwired, December 2007, Stephanie Brothers.
“Women’s ‘Stuff’ Display Is Commentary, Whimsy”, Courier-Journal, October 2007, Diane Heilenman.
“How to Make a Feminist Quilt”, Velocity Weekly, October 2007. Javacia Harris.
“Vadis Turner”, Images featured in Pitch Magazine, October 2007. Benjamin Genocchio.
“Fattening Goodies in All Their Sugary Glory”, Arts and Entertainment, The New York Times, April 8, 2007. “From Graffiti to Sgraffito, Keith Haring’s art makes the leap from New York City to Cesky Krumlov”, The Prague Post, April 4th, 2007. Mimi Fronczak.
“ART, Nine Off 8th At Six”, Critics’ Picks, Nashville Scene, September 2006. David Maddox.
“Retro Activities”, Reviews, Artnet Magazine, artnet.com, May 2006. Ben Davis.
“Vadis Turner at Sonia Rykiel”, New York Cool, April 2006.
“Satellite Fairs Offer Artistry, Oddities”, Palm Beach Daily News, December 3, 2005.
“Paper Doll”, Women’s Wear Daily, August 16, 2005. Elisa Lipsky-Karasz.
“Dateline Brooklyn”, Artnet Magazne, artnet.com, 2005. Stephen Maine.
“Stuff: Art From A Material World”, The Boston Globe, April 20, 2000.