Azimuth presents new site-responsive works by Chicago-based artist Gina Hunt. The exhibition title is a term Hunt encountered during her recent research on sundials, the earliest tools for measuring time; azimuth describes the distance and direction of the sun from the observer. The artist will create an actual sundial on the south-facing exterior wall of the Franklin and will visit the site at regular intervals to make timeline marks based on the movement of light and shadows. Inside the Franklin, Hunt’s screens made from layers of theater scrim that she has dyed red, green, and blue—referencing the colors of light on our digital screens and the cones in our eyes, which are sensitive to red, green, and blue wavelengths—will filter the natural light and create an ever-changing experience. Hunt’s project will be on view from May until August, as the sunlight shifts from the soft and diffused glow of spring to the intense and direct glare of summer. Azimuth will also overlap with the summer solstice.

Hunt has long been interested in “technologies of imaging through the medium of light,” from her early cyanotypes on rice paper, to her more recent paintings on cut and twisted canvas, to her current installations employing hand-dyed theater scrim. She began using scrim while traveling for residencies and a fellowship in 2016 not only because of its malleability and durability, but also its “magical ability to become translucent or opaque depending on the light source.” Surprising interference patterns are formed in her layers of the thin cotton mesh. Hunt’s research has recently yielded: a triangular installation of colorful screens at Badlands National Park in South Dakota; layers of polyester netting stretched between metal poles on Virginia Commonwealth University’s campus in Doha, Qatar; rectangular window coverings at University Galleries of Illinois State University and Drew University in Madison, New Jersey; and an outdoor information booth wrapped with vibrantly colored screens at the now-closed Fergus Falls State Hospital in Minnesota.

Hunt’s work has been exhibited at Virginia Commonwealth University, Doha, Qatar; Drew University, Madison, New Jersey; 65GRAND, Chicago; University Galleries of Illinois State University, Normal; DEMO Project, Springfield, Illinois; E. Tay Gallery, New York; Hoffman LaChance Contemporary, St. Louis; Front Room Gallery, Brooklyn; Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois; Jan Brandt Gallery, Bloomington, Illinois; and The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, among others. She was the 2015-2016 Fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. The artist’s work is included in the collections of the National Park Service, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Minnesota State University. Hunt received an MFA from Illinois State University, an MA from Minnesota State University, and a BFA from Minnesota State University.

This project is organized by Kendra Paitz, Senior Curator at University Galleries of Illinois State University.

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Tags: Azimuth, Chicago, East Garfield Park, Gina Hunt, Kendra Paitz, The Franklin