About the exhibition:

As a still-life painter, Meg Wolensky pulls together clusters of objects documenting queer life in the every day and throughout human history. In the same space, Wolensky holds the reality of emotional, cultural, economic, and political systemic devastation of the queer community as it stands opposed to the risk of freedom: life lived out loud.

Inspired by Fragments of Sappho, Fracture/Fragment reveals some, but not all, displaying fragments of archival queer literature and resistance publications woven amongst personal narratives, memories, myths, dreams, and relationships. Assembled through chromatic cross-sections and color chasms, the artist portrays affirming ephemera and analyze the contrasting systemic violence beneath the surface. Through the language of cultural lineage and self-preservation, Wolensky rebuilds a home where their whole identity is welcome and celebrated. Through these multi-year observations, the artist shows that queer people are here now, and, as Wolensky firmly states, “We have been here throughout all of time.”

Fracture/Fragment will be on view on the 5th floor of Atria Center City and is unfortunately not open to visitors. The work, however, will be for sale through our website and a walkthrough video tour will be made available once the exhibition is installed.

ABOUT THE Artist:

Originally from West Chester, Pennsylvania, Meg Wolensky is a queer nonbinary visual artist based in Philadelphia. Meg performs painting as a healing practice for queer community as they recover from C-PTSD, translating colorful fragments of experiences, memories, and dreams into a cohesive whole that is reflective of queer identity, history, and resistance. These investigative collage-like paintings layer cross-sections of colorful personal narrative, trompe-l'oeil objects, and indicators of time as it whips by.

Wolensky's work has been exhibited in venues across the country, including Drexel University, Kutztown University, University of Southern Mississippi, Moore College of Art & Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Woodmere Art Museum, InLiquid Gallery, Seraphin Gallery, Rodger LaPelle Galleries, William Way LGBT Community Center, Democratic National Convention, Painted Bride Art Center, Abington Art Center, the Banana Factory Arts & Education Center and many more. in 2023, Wolensky was the recipient of InLiquid's Dina Wind Fellowship by a jury of outstanding curators, artists, and arts leaders from around the Greater Philadelphia area.

Meg serves as the Managing Director of Continuing Education at Moore College of Art & Design where they are passionate about designing accessible arts experiences and work-readiness opportunities for marginalized professional artists and youth in need. With a BFA from the PAFA('14) and an MS in Arts Administration from Drexel University ('16), Meg provides holistic solutions informed by creative strategy, nonprofit management, and audience research. Meg is passionate about coaching teams to success in creating arts education experiences with big impact. Outside of creating and working, she lends professional curatorial, grant-writing, art handling, and arts nonprofit administration strategy services to other queer artists, students, organizations and initiatives.

Learn more about Wolensky at megwolensky.com