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Ambreen Butt | Lay Bare My Arms
November 9 - December 22, 2023
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Ambreen Butt | Lay Bare My Arms

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Overview
Installation image, Lay Bare My Arms, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, 2023. Photo by Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography
Installation image, Lay Bare My Arms, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, 2023. Photo by Glen Cheriton, Impart Photography

San Francisco, CA: Gallery Wendi Norris is delighted to present Lay Bare My Arms, Ambreen Butt’s first in-person solo exhibition with the gallery. Featuring eight new meticulously painted and collaged works, this exhibition coincides with the release of Butt’s first monograph, What Comes to My Lips.

 

Lay Bare My Arms foregrounds Butt’s perspective as a woman and a mother, processing the consequences of political stagnation and gun violence in America. Combining the radiant aesthetics of South Asian miniature paintings with the democratic nature of collage, Butt adorns her paintings with textual fragments from the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, an artistic interpretation that questions how the law is changed within and by society.

 

A central work in this exhibition, Guardians of Safe Heavens, features two figures that resemble demons. One holds a pistol, symbolizing the ever-present threat of violence that can disrupt the sanctity of life. The other cradles a walking iris, whose ephemeral bloom lasts only one day, emphasizing the fragility of existence. Though these creatures suggest potential danger, they are also engagingly rendered, inviting viewers to contemplate the delicate balance between safety and risk in today's time. This work, along with the other seven pieces of Lay Bare My Arms, asks the fundamental question, where are the safe spaces for the most vulnerable?

 

Rather than inciting a political call to action, Butt positions herself as a witness and record-keeper. Lay Bare My Arms, like her previous Say My Name series, prompts viewers to consider the realities of those afflicted by violence, going beyond the role of a news consumer with the privilege of distance from lived violence. 


ABOUT THE MONOGRAPH

What Comes to My Lips is the first monograph on the artist Ambreen Butt. 

Illuminated with images of the artist’s paintings, collaged works on paper, and large-scale installations from the past three decades, this 148-page publication includes texts by esteemed Afro-Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons; contemporary art curator and writer Sara Raza; and Pakistani artist, curator, and critic Quddus Mirza.  The book is published by Black Dog Press, London.

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Installation Views
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Ambreen Butt, Installation view, 'Lay Bare My Arms,' Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup:
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup:
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup:
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Ambreen Butt, Installation view, 'Lay Bare My Arms,' Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
Ambreen Butt, Installation view, Lay Bare My Arms, Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco, CA, 2023
Works
  • Ambreen Butt, Arsenal of Ambiguity, 2023
    Ambreen Butt, Arsenal of Ambiguity, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Contours of Fragility, 2023
    Ambreen Butt, Contours of Fragility, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, The Floral Offerings, 2023
    Ambreen Butt, The Floral Offerings, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Tearful Harvests, 2023
    Ambreen Butt, Tearful Harvests, 2023
  • Ambreen Butt, Guardians of Safe Heavens, 2023
    Ambreen Butt, Guardians of Safe Heavens, 2023
Publications
  • Ambreen Butt

    Ambreen Butt

    What Comes to My Lips 2023
    Hardback
    Publisher: Black Dog Press
    ISBN: 978-1-912165-51-3
    Read more
News
  • Hyperallergic | Beauty and Danger in the Art of Ambreen Butt

    Hyperallergic | Beauty and Danger in the Art of Ambreen Butt

    The Pakistan-born, Texas-based artist creates energetic works underpinned by a pervasive sense of threat. December 12, 2023
    Bridget Quinn December 12, 2023 SAN FRANCISCO - Ambreen Butt: Lay Bare My Arms at Gallery Wendi Norris combines collage and text with traditional South...
    Read more

Related artist

  • Ambreen Butt

    Ambreen Butt

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