Momentum Gallery's Latest Public Art Offering: A Pair of Murals by Visiting Artist, Samantha Bates
Please join us on Thursday, November 11th to view River Deep and Wade at the back entrance of the 3-story building located at 52 Broadway. Stop by Momentum Gallery between 4:00-6:00pm to meet the artist and join us for a champagne/hot cider toast to celebrate the completion of both murals at 5:30pm.
Two dynamic new artworks by Samantha Bates, for the public and passersby to appreciate, will be completed this week on the rear brick wall of 52 Broadway, home to both Momentum Gallery and Elevation Lofts Hotel. Additionally, new paintings and textile works have been introduced to Samantha Bates' solo exhibition on the second floor of Momentum Gallery. Bates' work inspires contemplation and conversation, and we are honored to have her on hand to discuss her process.
Bates' contemporary landscapes are inspired by her time in wilderness areas. Through meticulous mark making and patterning, thousands of dashes and dots emerge into imagery of forests and water. The artist comments, "I make work that speaks to the personal relationship of images, the recognition of the familiar in an intangible and reaching sort of way. My work evokes a feeling, an uncovering. I want the work to be thought about, to invite revisiting and to hold an affinity for the viewer. The work is about glimpses, impressions that build to an awakening at the edges of recollection….it is about coming home in a small way."
The two murals total around 1200 square-feet, and depict iconic Western North Carolina wilderness scenes. In River Deep, the 2nd floor mural that measures 17 x 17 feet, a scene from Pisgah National Forest of a river surrounded by rocks and woods is rendered as a contemporary composition of patterned areas. The lower mural covers the entire 75 foot wide span of the building's 1st floor and features a pattern of energetic, undulating stripes in varying shades of blue and gray. This piece, Wade, is an abstract representation of the currents and movement of the Land of Sky's wind, water, and topography.
Samantha Bates is one of Momentum Gallery's inaugural artists. Represented by the gallery since it opened in 2017, Bates work has been featured in two solo exhibitions at Momentum as well as Context Art Fair in Miami during Art Basel. Samantha hails from Washington State and has been in residence in Asheville for the past month painting the murals.
Additional outdoor artwork will be added by Momentum Gallery over the coming weeks. The building's south side will soon welcome a stunning cyanotype painting by Casey Roberts. The gallery plans to install lighting for all the exterior artwork (by Hoss Haley, Samantha Bates, and Casey Roberts) so the works can be seen and enjoyed after the sun goes down.
