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Mood Allowing for Power will present recent work by J. Michael Ford and Hannah Tarr that investigates mental states of empowerment and resistance. In each artist’s work, soft palettes, bodily outlines, and collected objects represent personal and collective histories while conveying a deep desire for human connection. These connections, represented in Ford’s “network” of linear sculptures and Tarr’s cartographic web of sequential images represent the artist’s voice, and moreover a mood that generates power.

 

 

“Radical softness is the idea that unapologetically sharing your emotions is a political move and a way to combat the societal idea that feelings are a sign of weakness.“

– Lora Mathis, interviewed by Hooligan Magazine

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J. Michael Ford (b.1982) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, IL whose work explores the boundaries of human desire through expressive linear forms. He received an MFA in painting and drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA in sculpture from Pratt Institute. Recent solo exhibitions include “Light Hand, Running” at Andrew Rafacz, as well as two-person exhibitions at Adler & Floyd and 41L (Chicago, IL). His work has been included in group exhibitions at Carrie Secrist Gallery, the Terrain Biannual and Hume (Chicago, IL) among others.

 

 

Hannah Tarr lives and works in Atlanta, Ga.  Tarr's work consists mainly of painting and sculpture that trudges through themes of growth, heartbreak, ambition and the female body. Tarr received her BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011 and has gone on to show at Camayuhs, Poem 88, MOCA GA, Abernathy Arts Center, Swan Coachhouse, Hartsfield Jackson Terminal E, and Loyal Gallery in Sweden. She was part of the Atlanta Contemporary Studio Artists program in 2017, but currently works out of her home in Ormewood Park. Tarr works as a scenic for film and television, most recently for the Goddess, Dolly Parton.