Self-Portrait (Jadis), Lauren E. Peters
COFFEE BREAK: Artist Talks | Lauren E. Peters & James Terrell
Saturday, May 20 2023 | 10:00a.m. – 12:00p.m.
FREE | In-Person Event
Our Coffee Breaks are sponsored in part by the Jenkintown Lyceum.
Abington Art Center is proud to host this artist talk, featuring two of our 2023 Spring Solo Series artists, Lauren E. Peters and James Terrell.
Our Coffee Break series is a casual conversation with the artists featured in our exhibition programming. Learn more about the exhibiting artists’ process and technique through a talk and a Q&A. Coffee and bagels are provided for free.
This event will also be live-streamed in real time on our Instagram page for those who are unable to attend in person. The livestream will begin at 10AM EST on May 20.
Lauren E. Peters
Artist Lauren E. Peters explores identity, self expression, and the ties to gender in her vibrant self portrait paintings. Drawing inspiration from those who “do not live according to the bodies they were born into, who break through the constraints that hold them captive, and stand firmly in their own place on the vast spectrum of femininity” as well as from her own personal experiences, Peters uses the self portrait as a tool to reveal the complex relationship between her gender identity and gender expression.
Despite being self portraits, each painting is radically different from each other. Peters plays dress up, sporting colorful wigs, puffy scarves, and elaborate wardrobes, and notes that “donning wigs and costumes is an assembling of identity” and that her paintings “speak to the performance of gender and appearance.” These physical attributes can influence our perception of the person she is revealing herself to be and plays into the idea of what is revealed and what is left hidden in how we present ourselves in society.
James Terrell
Artist and educator James Terrell explores universal human experiences through his vibrant paintings and collages. Using bold colors to capture the viewer’s attention and intricate patterns to slow the viewer’s gaze, Terrell’s work is simultaneously loud and intimate. His art acts as a “reflection of joy, pain, confusion, contemplation, and deliverance” on a personal level and on a greater scale. He notes, “the paintings represent shared life experiences…the experiences, although individual to one’s own heart, are experiences that bind us and bring us together.” Each pattern, each color change, each paint stroke is representative of those experiences and the complexities within us and within life.
Select Works
Top left to bottom right
Lauren E. Peters, Self-Portrait (cut ’em off), 2023, Oil on canvas, $12,000.
Lauren E. Peters, Self-Portrait (Jadis), 2023, Oil on canvas, NFS.
James Terrell, God and the Devil, Acrylic on canvas, $15,500.
James Terrell, Circle Triangle Square, Acrylic on canvas, $7,500.
For more information on a particular artist or piece please call 215.887.4882
This event is produced as part of our 2023 Spring Solo Series, on view from April 21 – May 29.
Our Coffee Breaks are sponsored in part by the Jenkintown Lyceum.