David Diviney
Folklure
April 18–May 17, 2008

Born and raised in the foothills of Appalachia, folklore and “folk craft” experiences have long shaped and served as a thematic point of departure for artist David Diviney. “Folklure” explores Diviney’s intrigue with the provisional savvy and self-sufficient ways of the “Mountain People” of rural America-an interest mirrored in a methodology loosely based on the backwoods ingenuity and creative gesture of this culture. Though his ‘quirky’ materials, techniques and ideas vary from one sculptural object to the next, Diviney’s interest in the rural (and the stereotypical representation thereof in popular culture and academic discourse) provides a common ground. Diviney’s recent investigations employ a pastoral vernacular of folk art/lore, foundational myths and other backwoods constructs in drawing connections to his own autobiography and between the structures of our cultural allegories and the material language of sculpture.

The public is invited to meet and speak with artist during the exhibition reception on Friday, April 18, 7:30 pm and during a public lecture on Saturday, April 19, 4:00 pm at Artcite Inc.
Both events are free and open to the public!

David Diviney’s artist talk is presented by the V.I.T.A. (Visitors in the Arts) Lecture Series, a collaborative project organized annually & funded in part by the AGW, Artcite Inc., Common Ground Gallery, House of Toast Film & Video Collective, Windsor Feminist Theatre, Windsor Printmaker’s Forum, and the University of Windsor’s School of Visual Arts, with additional funding support from the Canada Council’s “Project Assistance to Visual and Crafts Organizations” program.