Posted by Dylan Lustrin
On Thursday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. artist Terry Adkins's Lone Wolf Recital Corps, along with students and regional musicians will perform a collection of recitals at the Arthur Zankel Music Center. Bringing together sound, video, light, costume, and spoken word, Facets expands on the exhibition Terry Adkins Recital at the Tang Museum.
Acting as a retrospective of sorts, Recital brings together works created by Adkins over the past thirty years. Using found materials and imagery, the artist re-purposes and re-imagines objects with the ultimate goal of bringing to light the stories of historical figures who have been forgotten, or are in danger of slipping into obscurity. Included in this exhibition are pieces addressing the history and memory of figures such as Bessie Smith, W.E.B. Du Bois, Matthew Henson and Ludwig van Beethoven .
In a similar fashion to Recital, Facets is a compilation, a careful selection of past recitals tailored for the College and the Saratoga Springs community. In order to engage his surroundings, Adkins has selected twelve local musicians and actors to perform with him and the Lone Wolf Recital Corps. This group is made up of ten students (four horn players, a bassist, and five stagehands and readers) and two regional percussionists.
In a Sculpture interview with Judith Page, Adkins stresses the importance of the connection to community that he cultivates with each exhibition and performance. Speaking specifically about his project at the University of Akron dealing with John Brown, AfterFlame, Adkins claims, "The beautiful thing about [being a visiting artist] is that it does involve other people. I meet business people, community activists and students, and they are delighted to be involved. It is gratifying to develop relationships with people who don't normally deal with artists."
Founded in Zurich in 1987, the Lone Wolf Recital Corps has performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the American Academy in Rome and MoMA PS1 in New York. Consisting of a revolving roster of musicians and artists, the Corps is currently made up of Clifford Owens, Kamau Patton and Jessica Slaven. Exploring themes of collective memory, ritual and viewer interaction, these three multi-disciplinary artists have exhibited separately at venues including MoMA PS1, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Facets is free and open to the public; tickets may be reserved at www.skidmore.edu/zankel.