The Bradford Art Museum at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro is celebrating its one-year anniversary tonight with the opening of what promise to be super exhibitions of portraiture and a talk by printmaker Delita Martin, formerly of Little Rock but now living in Houston. A reception starts at 5 p.m.; Martin’s talk is at 6 p.m.
Martin is actually showing work from several series, which will occupy three galleries. “Night Women” features new large-scale portraits, a mix of printmaking, stitching and collage, of women of color and includes work from her “I Walked on Water to My Homeland” series as well. She also has an installation, “Dinner Table,” of hand-drawn portraits on plates; the
title references Judy Chicago’s “Dinner Party” and is about women gathering to “lift each other up.”
Photographer Nina Katchadourian of Brooklyn is showing self-portraits of herself in “Seat Assignment: Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style.” Katchadourian shot the photos of herself in airplane bathrooms with a camera phone and dressed in seat covers, toilet tissues and hand towels. Included in the show is a video, “In a Room Full of Strangers.”
Tad Lauritzen Wright of Memphis is showing drawings in the exhibition “Continual Myth” that depict mythological characters in a whimsical style. He’ll give a talk about his work in upcoming weeks.
“Arkansas Neighbors” is an exhibition of portraits by Arkansas photographer Andrew Kilgore from ASU’s permanent collection, which includes work from Kilgore’s “Fayetteville Townfolk” series.
The exhibitions run through Oct. 9 at the BAM, which is open noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday in the Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive.