Featured image for post: Barton College Welcomes “Certain Mobilities” an Exhibition by Gabe Duggan

Barton College Welcomes “Certain Mobilities” an Exhibition by Gabe Duggan

Wilson, N.C. — January 24, 2025 — Barton Art Galleries is excited to announce the opening of Gabe Duggan’s exhibition “Certain Mobilities” on Monday, Feb. 3, with a reception planned for Thursday, Feb. 6, from 5-7 p.m. The gallery talk will begin at 6 p.m. The reception will be on view to the public at no charge, and the community is invited to attend. The exhibition will be on view from February 3 – March 7. 

About the Exhibition –

The artist explains that the work explores binary systems, highlighting the interplay between opposing forces by situating grey areas in a state of balanced tension. Through the innovative use of textile strategies, technology, and materials, Duggan examines the social, political, and historical dimensions of power. By adopting roles as both creator and observer—image, image-builder, and viewer—they navigate spaces where agency is simultaneously lost and reclaimed.

In recent works, “VISKUBIT,” and “violence/consent,” Duggan abandons media specificity entirely, using the body as a subtractive technology upon the earth’s surface. These works leave marks—intended or unintended—on the land, existing in spaces described as “off-grid” while remaining visible at scales surveillable by satellite. Evoking ideas of desire paths and meditation labyrinths, these pieces exist only through use and are eventually erased by neglect. By laboring over the construction of inherently vulnerable systems, Duggan emphasizes impermanence and precarity, challenging perceptions of functionality in the world and in ourselves.

About the Artist – 

Gabe Duggan (they/them) was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and is an accomplished artist with residencies at numerous prestigious institutions, including Fish Factory (Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland), Sculpture Space Inc. (Utica, N.Y.), Praxis Fiber Workshop (Ohio), Cooler Ranch (New York), Landfalls (New York), the Musk Ox Farm (Alaska), Governors Island Art Fair (New York), Ponyride (Knight Foundation Emerging Artist, Mich.), and Rob Dunn Lab (N.C. State University and N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences).

Duggan’s awards and special projects include Field Project’s “ENDS WELL” at Mother In Law’s Gallery for Upstate Art Weekend, the Juror’s Prize at Art on the Trails by Sarah Montross, the Integrated Coastal Programs Coastal Fellowship (Coastal Studies Institute), RCAA (East Carolina University), Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy (East Carolina University), and project grants from the North Carolina Arts Council. Duggan has taught at the University of North Texas, Georgia State University, and Penland School of Craft. Duggan currently serves as an associate professor at East Carolina University.

For additional information or to reserve a time to visit, please contact Maureen O’Neill, director of exhibitions and educational programming, at artgalleries@barton.edu or 252-399-6476. Individual and small group tours may be scheduled by reservation, and evening and weekend times may also be scheduled by request. 

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