Artist lauds the past in Barrington library exhibit
The latest art exhibit at the Barrington Area Library’s Gallery, 505 N. Northwest Hwy., is provocative, funny and one-of-a-kind.
“Opposing Forces” is the title of the new exhibit created by Barrington photographer and artist Kelly Stachura specifically for the Barrington Area Library. The exhibit is part of a series in which various artists “take on the library,” addressing the role of libraries within communities and the lives of individual users through surprising, interactive artwork.
“Opposing Forces” will be on display in the Gallery through Nov. 5. Visitors should bring a sense of play and be open to discovery.
Stachura has taken familiar items, like fortune cookie messages, paper airplanes and lottery tickets, and combined them into striking, thought-provoking works of art. The paper airplanes, interspersed with crumpled pieces of trash, line the walls and ceiling of the library in a whirling cyclone titled “Life Is But A Dream.”
Another recurring theme in the exhibit: bidding farewell to beloved but obsolete technology. A rotary telephone sits, unused, on a pedestal with prayer cards available for those who wish to mourn the loss.
One of the most attention-getting pieces is “Gone But Not Forgotten,” centered around an old library card catalog. The catalog rests near floral arrangements, sympathy cards, even a podium and guest book for writing “condolences.”
Patrons visiting the library are inevitably drawn to the card catalog: some feel the pangs of nostalgia, while younger visitors revel in the chance to try out a retro-cool museum piece.
A reception to honor Stachura will take place from 7-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14. Enjoy complimentary refreshments as you meet and chat with the artist.
Stachura is a Barrington native, graduating from Barrington High School in 2001. She earned her bachelor of fine arts degree in 2005 from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. For more than 10 years, Stachura has explored her passion for photography through both commercial and artistic venues. Her portfolio has been exhibited in more than 60 local, national and international exhibitions.
Her work has received numerous honors and has appeared in prominent media sources, including the Daily Herald and Pioneer Press newspapers, Quintessential Barrington and CNN International.
Stachura’s ongoing commitment and dedication to the Barrington community is most evident in her role as co-curator of the Barrington Area Library’s Gallery in the Library along with photographer Lisa Swarbrick.
Her work in curating the gallery usually means bringing in the best of her peers in the local art scene, so it is particularly appropriate and significant that Stachura be honored with a showing of her own work at the library.
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