Fine Arts Work Center presents “Edge Condition,” group exhibition featuring works from 19 past visual arts fellows
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Curated by artist Matt Bollinger, the exhibition runs from June 6 through August 22 in Provincetown before traveling to the Armory Show in New York City in September
Photo: James Everett Stanley, Detail of Dreaming Child, 2023, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches.
Provincetown, MA (May 21, 2024) – At the outermost tip of Cape Cod in Provincetown, where sidewalks yield to rugged dunes and blur the line between civilization and wilderness, a new group exhibition will spotlight the works of 19 artists who spent seven months residing at “the edge of the world” as part of the Fine Arts Work Center‘s renowned residency program.
“Edge Condition,” running June 6 through August 22 at the Hudson D. Walker Gallery, brings together works from past Fellows representing multiple generations that have passed through the Work Center, ranging from Sam Messer (1981-1982) and Lisa Yuskavage (1986-1987) to Simonette Quamina (2017-2018) and Agnes Walden (2023-2024). Following its time in Provincetown, the exhibition will travel to The Armory Show in New York City from September 6 – 8, marking the first time the Work Center will have a presence at New York City’s preeminent international art fair. The exhibition will open in Provincetown on Thursday, June 6 from 6 to 8 PM.
Curated by past Visual Arts Fellow Matt Bollinger (2009-2010, 2010-2011), the exhibition features a range of mediums spanning painting, sculpture, video, multimedia, and more. Artist Elizabeth Flood’s oil on canvas Dunes (March, West), 2022 was plein air painted in Provincetown’s famed dunes during her fellowship. Arghavan Khosravi’s haunting work The Mirror, 2024 is a powerful painting on irregularly shaped wood panel cutout that slowly reveals its meaning. Sam Messer’s oil on canvas is selected from his acclaimed typewriter series, with text that reads, “Anything is possible.” Bollinger said the exhibition’s title, “Edge Condition,” is inspired by the urban design term which describes the intersection where contrasting elements intersect and create opportunities for “special drama,” such as the edge where a building and sidewalk meet.
“Being a Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center can feel like living at the end of the world, with the remoteness and the off-season combining to create the same type of ‘special drama’ you find in the edge condition of urban design,” said Bollinger. “We hope this exhibition creates an experience with similar tension and juxtapositions, revealing the unique way Provincetown and its wild landscapes continue to inspire artists long after their residencies.”
“This exhibition is a tribute to the incredible visual artists who have helped make the Work Center and Provincetown an international haven for creativity,” said Fine Arts Work Center Director Sharon Polli. “We’re excited to give Provincetown art lovers and visitor a first look at this unique group exhibition before it heads to New York for The Armory Show.”
Bollinger is known for his American modernism-inspired paintings, drawings, and animations that display the dark, dystopian side of the American dream and socio-economic struggles. In addition to his two fellowships at the Fine Arts Work Center, he has completed residencies at the Seven Below Arts Initiative in Burlington, VT, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program in Brooklyn, NY.
The works in Edge Condition are available for acquisition in person and via Artsy. A portion of all proceeds will support the Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship program.
Featured Artists in “Edge Condition” include:
Herman Aguirre (2017-2018)
Ellen Akimoto (2021-2022)
Taylor Baldwin (2008-2009, 2009-2010)
Matt Bollinger (2009-2010, 2010-2011)
Amy Brener (2014-2015)
Angela Dufresne (2002-2003, 2003-2004)
Elizabeth Flood (2021-2022, 2022-2023)
Heidi Hahn (2014-2015, 2015-2016)
Ezra Johnson (2006-2007)
Arghavan Khosravi (2018-2019)
Sam Messer (1981-1982)
Anne Clare Rogers (2017-2018)
Alexandria Smith (2013-2014, 2014-2015)
James Everett Stanley (2002-2003)
Simonette Quamina (2017-2018)
Agnes Walden (2023-2024)
Chuck Webster (2004-2005)
Phil Whitman (2005-2006, 2006-2007)
Lisa Yuskavage (1986-1987)
About The Fine Arts Work Center
The Fine Arts Work Center is an international home for artists and writers in Provincetown, Massachusetts — the country’s most enduring artists’ community. Founded in 1968 by a group of luminary creators including Stanley Kunitz, Robert Motherwell, Josephine and Salvatore Del Deo, and Hudson and Ione Walker, the Work Center has given artists and writers the space and time to pursue their work within a community of peers for more than half a century. The artist-led Work Center supports emerging artists and writers through its world-renowned Fellowship program, and also offers summer workshops and year-round virtual learning opportunities to advance creative practice. Fine Arts Work Center Fellows who have arrived in Provincetown as emerging writers have gone on to win Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, MacArthur Fellowships, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Visual Arts Fellows have presented their work at the Venice Biennale, The Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and at other venues around the globe. The Fine Arts Work Center supports artistic freedom, nurtures creative connections, and makes possible artistic achievements important to the larger culture.
