Worms Work
curated by mild climate for The Finishing School @ Lamar Dodd School of Art - University of Georgia, Athens

April Bachtel
David King
Jessica Machacek
Joe Peragine
Will Tucker

March 31 - April 16, 2017
 

mild climate presents Worms Work, a group exhibition featuring work from April Bachtel, Will Tucker, Jessica Machacek, David King and Joe Peragine.  

Worms work underground and emerge, above ground, when it rains. Sometimes they dry out on the pavement in the hot sun. To protect their bodies from the unrelenting sun they stretch away from the light, boring holes downward into the heavy Southern clay. At other times they make worm tea. And also children pull their bodies in two. In Worms Work threads snake through the holes of the various works, time-worn fabric from washings; construction work embedding and fermenting; gathering and piling of earthen tokens; the nocturnal opossum with her babies on her back, slinking silently, slipping in and out of focus; lines of ants frozen in their ritual march through the house; and the pond rests, sun-faded and riddled with holes and hoses. The underground is messy, dirty even, but nutritious and diverse, a region of hard workin’ worms.

April Bachtel grew up on a small farm in the home of a cabinetmaker near Akron, Ohio where she was born. She received a BA in Art Education and a BFA in Painting from Kent State University (2011). She received her MFA in Studio Art from University of Tennessee (2014). She’s studied at Oxbow School of Art and Artist Residency in Saugatuck, Michigan and was an artist in residence at Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. Her work has been exhibited at Roane State Community College in Harriman, TN; Des Lee Gallery in St. Louis, MO; Tahoe Gallery in Incline Village, NV; White Box Gallery in New York, NY; Co-prosperity Sphere Gallery in Chicago, IL; Shift Space in Wichita, KS; and at Coop Gallery in Nashville, TN amongst others. Currently she is a Visiting Instructor at University of Alabama.

David King is an artist in Nashville, TN. He holds a BA from the University of Tennessee and has studied at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film. In 2012 he curated the group exhibition It’s Hot in a Dog’s Head at Ground Floor Gallery + Studios (Nashville) and recently shown alongside collaborator David Onri Anderson in Living on Mousemeat at Track One (Nashville).

Jess Machacek was born in Omaha, Nebraska and received her BFA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds an MFA in printmaking from the University of Georgia. Her work has been selected for numerous exhibitions nationally and she has completed residencies at Vermont Studio Center and The Wassaic Project. Jess is currently based in Athens, Georgia.

Joseph Peragine was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1961. He completed his undergraduate work in fine art at the University of Georgia, Athens, and in 1995 received his MFA in painting from Georgia State University, Atlanta, where he is currently an Associate Professor in Drawing, Painting and Printmaking. He recently completed a prestigious five year studio residency at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

Willard Tucker was born in Lexington, KY in 1983. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2006 with his BFA (summa cum laude) and received his MFA from the Ohio State University in 2009. He was a founding member of Coop gallery in Nashville. His work has been reviewed in Sculpture Magazine and Art Papers. After a brief teaching career in Nashville, he now lives with his family in Lexington and works in the construction industry. Tucker's work explores the conflux of architecture, sculpture and drawing.

507C HAGAN ST - NASHVILLE, TN 37203

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