VisArts Will Exhibit Work by Grace Kubilius at CURRENT Art Fair

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond announces that it will participate in CURRENT, a contemporary art fair going into its second year. VisArts will use its exhibition space to highlight the work of its most recent Quirk+VisArts artist-in-residence, Grace Kubilius.

CURRENT will run from Friday, September 29 through Sunday, October 1 at Richmond’s Main Street Station. A VIP preview party will be held on the evening of Thursday, September 28.

The fair was launched by seven local gallery owners and directors who wanted to offer Richmonders an accessible way to collect art by local, national and international artists. Founders represented 1708 Gallery, ADA gallery, Candela Books + Gallery, glave kocen gallery, Page Bond Gallery, Quirk Gallery and Reynolds Gallery.

Along with the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, the following galleries will join CURRENT this year: Iridian Gallery, Second Street Gallery, SEDIMENT Arts, Shockoe Artspace and the Walton Gallery. Studio Two Three and the Institute for Contemporary Art will also be represented.

“We’re thrilled to be in such good company,” said Stefanie Fedor, executive director of the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. “We offer more than 700 art classes each year, but our exhibition program is central to everything we do. We use our gallery to highlight the materials and processes we teach in our studios, and it’s an honor to showcase it alongside so many other inspiring institutions.”

The Quirk+VisArts Artist Residency offers artists at all stages in their careers the chance to live in Richmond—in a private apartment owned by Quirk Hotel, create work and exhibit it at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond, Quirk Gallery or affiliate spaces. For the past three years, a summer residency has been awarded to a recent graduate from VCUArts’ MFA program in craft/material studies. This year’s summer residency went to Grace Kubilius.

Kubilius is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes wearable objects, sculpture and performance. She explores themes of gender, identity, trauma, self-image, ugliness and objectification. Her CURRENT installation will include a metal armature and a digitally printed textile, among other pieces.

Kubilius earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in fiber and experimental fashion from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in craft/material studies from VCUArts. She has been a resident artist at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Craft Alliance Center of Art and Design and Acre, and she has shown her work at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Reese Gallery, Society for Contemporary Craft, Ohio Craft Museum and Virginia Museum of Contemporary Craft.

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond announced earlier this year that it would move its 53-year-old contemporary craft show, Craft + Design, to Main Street Station this November. The show, which is scheduled for November 17-19, is doubling in size and will take place on the train shed’s main concourse. CURRENT will take place on the train shed’s ground floor.

Preview party tickets to CURRENT will go on sale August 20. General admission on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is free. For more information about CURRENT, visit currentrichmond.com.