LOFT 1: Daren Kendall

Daren was born in Buffalo, New York, and currently lives and works between upstate New York and Norman, OK where he is Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of Oklahoma. Daren says, "I like to think my artistic process is a dynamic and sensual exchange with the physical environment... Motivated by a sense of presence and connection with others, I construct sculptural frameworks to improvise, collaborate, and stage cinematic events..."

LOFT 2: Natalie Harrison, Alex McClurg, and Orlando Thompson

Natalie Harrison and Alex McClurg are artists living and working in Birmingham.

Natalie says, "Materiality and femininity are embedded in my work and practice. I am drawn to the aesthetic qualities of fabric and jewelry. This interest stems from the color, texture, variety and the association with the female body that they contain. I experiment with various manipulations of paint in which the paint strays away from the picture plane and becomes a three-dimensional form. In my current body of work, I mold paint into bead, lace and floral forms. While the molds themselves remain consistent, the paint allows each bead to have individuality. These pieces are meditatively collaged together to create a tapestry/quilt of paint. The detail of each piece urges the viewer to slow down and take a closer look."

Alex says, "My work is informed by my attraction to geometric illustrations from book covers created in the 1960s and 1970s, quilt patterns and the idea of displacement. I continually question my compositions as I strive for simplicity. The size of my work hints at the size of a book, which invites the viewer to become intimate with them. The patterns are intuitive and are generated in the moment, similar to the traditional way of designing a quilt. Creating these patterns becomes a meditative process. Areas of the paintings show shapes in positive and negative form. Certain shapes and lines are off-kilter and seem to be moved from their original location or expanding off the surface. These paintings are my attempt to show tradition combined with the moment of displacement."

Orlando Thompson is a movie maker, photographer, and podcast host based in St. Louis.

Regarding his work, Orlando says, "I am black… I am American. This is how America defines me. What I make explores being black, American and the space in-between. Race, ethnicity, religion… The art I produce wants to find and place me in worlds I am a part of but not emotionally attached to. My photography is documentation of places my body has existed. For the last three years Iʼve used 35mm half frame cameras to make photographs. Two images on every frame, each frame is a diptych. These photos are moments Iʼm compelled to stop, compose and make a picture. Two photographs living in a single frame, here to tell their story as one. They are like tarot cards, I donʼt just look at them, I read them for a greater understanding of the photoʼs subject, and myself."

Want to book this Airbnb for your out-of-town guests or for your own staycation? Check out the listings (they can be rented separately or together) here.

VINEGAR is launches a new experimental collaboration with an Airbnb owner in Downtown Birmingham, Alabama. VINEGAR is mounting exhibitions in two adjacent Airbnbs near the historic Alabama and Lyric theaters, and each exhibition will last two months. We will have a public reception during the second Wednesday of every month. These bi-monthly shows will highlight artists from Birmingham and the region. The first exhibition in November featured work by VINEGAR’s Co-Directors and Creative Contributors.

The pulsing repetitive beat, sweat soaking your carefully selected outfit, the hours that pass without much thought while you repeat the same movements over and over, the exhaustion disappearing when you hear that song that makes you get on the dance floor and keep going because it is just too good to miss. VINEGAR wants to go to a place where the ego falls away, where the body reconnects with the mind and the boundaries between us dissolve. Taking inspiration from 1990s midwest rave culture, VINEGAR invites you to melt into your surroundings. Let’s dance.

The night included:

• the launch of VINEGAR's first zine, POSTERIOR

• an exhibition of VINEGAR's latest drawings, paintings, and doodles

• poetry readings by Halley Cotton, Daniel DeVaughn, Carey Fountain, Ryan Meyer, Chelsea Wilkerson and more

• music, courtesy of the VINEGAR Spotify playlist (dancing is optional and encouraged)

Freedom House, 4911 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, Alabama 35222 (Entrance and parking in the back.)

In an artist exhibitor tent, VINEGAR creates an installation, For the Sake of Transparency, as an earnest plea for transparency. Within one tent three artists will build an installation from drawings and pieces of drawings on transparency film sheets. The drawings will accumulate and overlap, creating layers on layers - blending into a mess of marks and forms. Such is the unconsciousness of a collective. It may not be pretty, yet the plea for transparency is clear.

In addition to the For the Sake of Transparency installation, VINEGAR will be hosting a special video art screening on Friday night (April 27) alongside the festival grounds after sundown.

What is the line between art and everyday life? This question is on the minds of VINEGAR’s first three artists, Ryan Meyer, Ann Trondson, and Melissa Yes. For one night, they were people-as-public-art. A true performance, it existed only in the moment. All that remains is a trace.

VINEGAR presents Screen Time: a lineup of video art and short films gathered from artists and curators from across the United States, presenting pieces they believe need to be seen—works that warrant our attention and provoke conversation. Screen Time is FREE and open to the public. It is the first of a series of projects that VINEGAR is hosting in 2019. Featuring work by Sa’dia Rehman, Sable Elyse Smith, John Orlandelo, and Arthur Lipsett. Curated with assistance from Hallie Ringle, Miriam Kienle, and Geoffrey Farmer.

In October, three artists came together to form VINEGAR, an experimental artistic collaboration.  Their first event, Open Vinegar, is a way for these artists to reorient themselves and their practices, triangulate their pursuits, and see what happens. An open-ended exploration, Open Vinegar will influence VINEGAR’s next moves