The Walter Art Gallery is excited to present “Adrift,” a solo show of new oil paintings on found objects by Phoenix artist Laura Spalding Best. The show opens on November 19th, 2021 with an artist’s reception from 6:30 to 9:30pm. Best will also debut a new mural on the exterior wall of Walter Art Gallery.
Best works mainly on found domestic objects such as silver platters, teacups, muffin trays, and old metal irons. In an interview with the Phoenix Art Museum, Best said, “I love reusing objects and giving them a new purpose and life. Found objects come to me with more history than a blank canvas.” Using these objects as the foundation for her work, the artist explores the complex and challenging relationship between the desert environment of the southwest, human impact on the landscape, and the emotions associated with addressing climate change. From the overwhelming feeling of futility to the hope of small, everyday actions, in this show, Best presents a vulnerable body of work made up of objects that are desperately trying to hold on to the landscape even as it slips away.
Hailing from the Midwest, Laura moved to Arizona when she was 18 and completed her BFA at Arizona State University. She has exhibited work at numerous solo and group exhibitions in downtown Phoenix and completed several public murals across the Valley of the Sun. The Walter Art Gallery is honored that we will soon have one of her beautiful murals on our building. Best is the exhibitions manager at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art since 2006 and has appeared on Arizona Horizon to discuss her artwork and received various grants to support her practice, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and a 2017 Contemporary Forum Artists’ Grant.
The “Adrift” exhibition will run from November 19 with an opening reception from 6:30 to 9:30pm to December 17, with a closing reception from 6:30 to 9:30pm. The gallery is also open by appointment by emailing gallery@thewalterhive.org.