Round 4
Lawndale Artist Studio Program Exhibition
The Lawndale Artist Studio Program is part of Lawndale's
ongoing commitment to support the creation of contemporary
art by Gulf Coast area artists. With an emphasis on emerging
practices, the program provides three artists with studio
space on the third floor of the Lawndale Art Center at 4912
Main Street in the heart of Houston's Museum District.
This exhibition features residents for the fourth year of the
Lawndale Artist Studio Program, Dawn Black, Nick
Meriwether and David Waddell.
Dawn Black's drawings question the nuances of identity
politics and cultural norms by depicting scenes of
meticulously drawn (in gouache, watercolor, and ink)
figures that have been culled from the Internet and
various periodicals. The intrinsic narratives created by
the figure's groupings are intended to be layered and
ambiguous, thus allowing the viewer to seriously consider
the relationships depicted. While a resident at Lawndale ,
Black has been working on a series of works that examine
both acts of violence and society's response to these abuses.
Nick Meriwether presents a collection of work created while
in residency at Lawndale. This new work spans a variety of
themes and mediums. While in residence, Meriwether focused
heavily on experimentation. Circuits and motors were valued
as equal to the paintbrush. The result is a cloud of ideas
expressed through sculptural forms such as unaccommodating
robotics, shotgun blasts, spray paint and truck hitch testicles
among other surprises.
David Waddell presents his expanding world of creatures
through new iPod pieces, wall drawings and collaged
specimen studies. Waddell extracts components from
printed material in our popular culture. Images are regenerated
and brought to life through digital means. These cultural
creatures camouflage into our modern landscape and
mechanically perform human actions and natural deeds.
Dawn Black was born in Louisiana where she received
a BFA from Louisiana State University. She earned both
MA and MFA, specializing in Painting and Sculpture, from
the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History.
In 2000, she spent the summer exploring Venice, Italy
while making prints at Scoula di Graphica, a printmaking
studio on the Grand Canal. She has had solo exhibitions
at Curator's Office, Washington DC, Kunstoffice, Berlin,
Germany and Eve Drewelowe Gallery, Iowa City, IA.
Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions,
including Pulse Miami 2008. Her work has been recently
reviewed by the Washington Post, Art Papers magazine,
and online at www.artinamerica.com and is in various
private collections, notably the Zacharius collection.
Currently, she is preparing for a March 2010 solo
exhibition at Get This! Gallery in Atlanta, GA. She
is represented by Curator's Office.
Nick Meriwether received his BFA in painting from
the University of Houston in 2006. He is a
multidisciplinary artist, whose primary mediums
include drawing, sculpture, video and computer
software. He works professionally as a
photographer's assistant, an art instructor and a
graphic designer. He is a member of the local
drawing collective Sketch Klubb.
David Waddell is a Houston based artist who
creates other worlds through stop-motion animation,
small sculptures, and collaged drawings. Waddell's
work has been included at Gavin Brown Enterprise,
Lawndale Art Center, New York Fashion Week,
Fotofest and Aurora Picture Show. He received his
BFA from University of Texas and his MFA in painting
from American University. Waddell is currently the
Director of Media Studies at HSPVA.
