Evanston Art Center Presents “ANNE HAYDEN STEVENS: THE PHILOSOPHER WALKS”.

ANNE HAYDEN STEVENS: THE PHILOSOPHER WALKS

EXHIBITION DATES: June 17 – July 23, 2023
EXHIBITION PREVIEW: Friday, June 16, 3-5 pm
OPENING RECEPTION: Sunday, June 25, 1-4 pm
CLOSING RECEPTION AND GALLERY TALK: Sunday, July 23, 1-4 pm, with a Gallery Talk at 2 pm
GALLERY HOURS: Monday–Thursday, 9 am–6 pm; Friday, 9 am–5 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9 am–4 pm

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is proud to present a new exhibition, The Philosopher Walks, featuring works by Anne Hayden Stevens.

Artist Anne Hayden Stevens was selected for a juror’s award and solo exhibition at the Art Center by juror Kate Pollasch in the 2021 Evanston + Vicinity Biennial. This exhibition, The Philosopher Walks, includes expansive oil paintings and sculpture in which tiny figures make their way through a mountainous world. Stevens’ textured, high chroma landscapes employ simple forms of trees, bodies, refuges, and water to create space for travelers through the paintings. Stevens, a painter and printmaker, has made large scale installations in Evanston in two pop-up exhibitions curated by Lisa Degliantoni and EvanstonMade, and curates outdoor installations and screenings at the Evanston Art Center as Side/Lot with artist Mat Rappaport. Stevens participated in the Center Program and Bridge at the Hyde Park Art Center, and the Field/Work program at the Chicago Artists Coalition.

A series of nine paintings on paper, “Accountability,” will be on display in the exhibition. These paintings were made in response to assignments given to a group of artists, centered around a class of incarcerated artists, by multidisciplinary artist Damon Locks, the director of the Black Monument Ensemble. Locks works as a teaching artist for the Prison+Neighborhood Arts Project, or PNAP, with incarcerated artists at Stateville Correctional Center.

Locks’ assignments are speculative and forward-looking. He asks the artists to have a conversation with themselves about Accountability, and to ponder a Lost Place, and to make a story about a Transformation. The assignments urge us to envision a liberated world while living in the real world.

The Philosopher Walks will be on display in the Evanston Art Center’s Second Floor Gallery from June 17 – July 23, 2023. Stevens will be present in the galleries for an Exhibition Preview on June 16, 2023, from 3-5pm. The opening reception will take place on Sunday, June 25th, from 1-4pm, and there will be a closing reception on Sunday, July 23rd from 1-4pm with an artist’s Gallery Talk at 2pm. The exhibition and accompanying events are free and open to the public.

Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and expression of the arts among diverse audiences. The Art Center offers extensive and innovative instruction in broad areas of artistic endeavor through classes, exhibitions, interactive arts activities, and community outreach initiatives.

Evanston Art Center is located at 1717 Central Street, Evanston, IL. Evanston Art Center Gallery Hours: Monday– Thursday, 9 am–6 pm; Friday, 9 am–5 pm; Saturday and Sunday, 9 am–4 pm. First and second-floor gallery spaces are accessible. Limited free parking is available. Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors and staff.For more information, please visit us online at www.evanstonartcenter.org or contact Audrey Avril, Manager of Exhibitions, at 847.475.5300 or aavril@evanstonartcenter.org. Visit the Evanston Art Center on Facebook: www.facebook.com/EvanstonArtCenter/, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/evartcenter, or on Instagram: @EvanstonArtCenter.