Jul 8th 2017

Artist Talk: Betsy Odom

@ Leather Archives & Museum

6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago, IL 60626

Opening Saturday, July 8th, from 2PM - 3PM

Join the Leather Archives & Museum for an artist talk by Betsy Odom.

Saturday, July 8, 2017, 2pm in the Etienne Auditorium

Odom explores the ephemera surrounding displays of identity. She works with specific materials like tooled leather, sporty fabrics, chunky silver, automotive finishes, and airbrushed paints. These materials signify the cultural phenomena that have surrounded her development: Southern culture, women’s athletics, tomboys, hobbyists, fantasy, or camp. The aesthetics of these groups, although rooted in functionality, often serve to reinforce embedded messages about gender, class, race, and sexuality. Odom attempts to use a combination of earnest craftsmanship and humor to extract and subvert these messages, creating objects that entertain a fantasy of moving freely among social groups and confronting the contradictions therein.

Betsy Odom (b. Amory, Mississippi) received her MFA from Yale University School of Art and her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a DCASE Grant, Illinois Arts Council Artist Grant, and West Collection Acquisition Prize. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Let’s be Honest at 4th Ward Project Space in Chicago, Oh No at Terrain Projects in Oak Park, IL, and Freedom Culture at The Journal Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Odom is currently serving as Lecturer of Fine Arts in Sculpture and 3D Design at Loyola University Chicago. Along with teaching at Loyola, Betsy taught at Lake Forest College and at Columbia College Chicago.

The Leather Archives & Museum Guest Artist Gallery presents this public program as part of MATERIALKINK, on view June 30, 2017 through January 14, 2018.

Suggested donation: $5 (no one turned away for lack of funds)

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