MALICE’S RESTAURANT
Hennessy Experiment by Natalie Hutchings
January 10 - April 15, 2020
OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, January 10, 2020 | 5 - 9 PM during Art Loop
The Hennessy Experiment is the sequel to our ever popular Draper Experiment as a space to experiment with craft, materials, and mediums, and asks the age old question, “What is art?”
MALICE'S RESTAURANT by Natalie Hutchings explores social constructs of history and the willingness to view societal ills from a distance through rose colored glasses. Hutchings creates an altered rendition of classic Americana through the ubiquitous diner setting. Props such as vintage tables and fake plants set the stage to trigger concepts of institutionalized racism, patriarchal abuses, and the impetus that spawned and still nourishes them.
To anchor her point, Hutchings enhances the scene through digital content of familiar signs, evoking how awkward uniformity mirrors behavioral norms and "perpetuates these diseases of modernity." Lighting and ambient sound complete the sensory experience for viewers, urging them to question their own version of reality. Hutchings invites viewers to re-examine their role in creating or upholding the fruits of toxic nostalgia, or resign to exist in a real-life alternate reality.
Hutchings is a multidisciplinary artist, futurist, and educator. She is a member of the Vox Populi artist collective in Philadelphia, PA. Hutchings received her MFA from the University of Delaware in Studio Art and a BFA from Towson University in Interdisciplinary Object Design, a hybrid of digital fabrication, craft, and sculpture. As a graduate student, Hutchings was a winner of the Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Awards from The International Sculpture Center (Sculpture Magazine) and was a 2018 Fellow of the Delaware Public Humanities Institute (DeLPHI) for her research in Material Culture Studies. She has exhibited in Berlin, Germany; Dallas, TX; Portland, OR; Baltimore, MD; Wilmington, DE; and, Philadelphia, PA.
Constance S. & Robert J. Hennessy Project Space