SAVANNAH — Artist Bertha Husband will present a series of paintings at the “Tacking in Time” exhibition April 8-May 20 at Gallery S.P.A.C.E. at 9 W. Henry St., Savannah. There will be an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 8.
The exhibition is a retrospective, spanning 25 years, and the body of work is drawn from six different series. The ocean has become a dominant theme in Husband’s paintings. The title, “Tacking (sailing against the wind) in Time,” also refers to the artist’s working life, which she has spent in alternative, collaborative art groups. Books, handmade films and other memorabilia also will be on display at the exhibit.
“For me, the beauty of working with other artists on collaborative projects is that the works that come out of the experience are always a surprise,” Husband said. “The results are something that the artists could never have conceived of and made independently.”
In addition to the exhibition at S.P.A.C.E., Husband will present a lecture titled “Adrift: The Future of Failure: An Autobiography of an Idea” at 7 p.m. Friday, May 6. The lecture focuses on 100 years of avant-garde art groups, specifically early-20th-century, Parisian-based groups, as well as groups the artist has been personally involved with in England and Chicago since the 1970s.
Husband, a painter and an installation artist, is a native of Scotland and a graduate of the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has taught drawing part-time in the foundations department at SCAD since 2001. She has had her work exhibited nationally and internationally for the past 30 years in museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago; the Bradford City Art Museum in Bradford, England; in cultural centers; galleries; and art schools in London, Cambridge, Chicago, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Husband also was a member of numerous artist collectives such as Artists for Democracy in London and Axe Street Arena in Chicago. Her essays on art have appeared in various publications such as Third Text in London; Left Curve in Oakland, Calif.; Art Papers in Atlanta; and the Chicago Reader, and she was the art reviewer for Connect Savannah from 2000-2009.
The exhibition and opening reception are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Free off-street parking is available. For information, call 912-651-6783 or go to www.savannahga.gov/arts.