Wheel of Fortune
Artwork by Eli Kauffman
The exhibition will be on view in the Ground Floor Lobby and the Updike Room, third floor, during regular library hours beginning Monday, September 16.
The opening reception will take place Monday, September 23, in the Updike Room on the third floor; find more information here.
Wheel of Fortune is a site-specific art installation by Eli Kauffman. Colorful, life-sized paintings explore the breadth and intensity of young adulthood, through self-betterment and collective perseverance. Kauffman makes paintings specific to the scenery and artifacts in their community, revisiting moments that feel profound in daily life. The work is like a soap opera; it is all about slowing fast moments down so that we can sit in them.
Eli Kauffman grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is currently based out of Providence, Rhode Island. They graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in 2022. During their degree, they received the Maharam Fellowship and exhibited works at the RISD Museum. In 2022, Kauffman was also included in an edition of New American Paintings magazine. Kauffman debuted their first international solo exhibition in London in 2023, with Artistellar Gallery. They have shown work in St. Tropez, France, and in the United States, in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles. Recently, they were awarded the RISCA Make Art Award from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Though primarily interested in painting, Kauffman is also known to explore printmaking, textiles, and ceramics.
To see more of their work, you can visit their Instagram or website.
This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.