Aggie Zed
Keeper’s Keep
Edited with an Introduction by Mark Sloan
Derived from the title of one of the artist’s works, Keeper’s Keep alludes to British usage
of the term “keeper” for “curator” and plays on the double meaning of “keep” as both a
noun and a verb. Aggie Zed was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and raised among
farm animals on Sullivans Island. She graduated from the University of South Carolina
with a B.F.A. in painting and sculpture. Although Zed’s work derives much of its meaning from literary associations, her imagery teems with invention and startling leaps of
imagination. Her visual poetry conjures a world in which logic and rationality take a
comfortable backseat. Human foibles and impulses are placed in the foreground and
even though she works in a variety of media, her conceptual approach remains consistent throughout. She is a storyteller whose works take us out of our consensual reality
and into a world filled with absurdity, ambiguity, and the gifts of artistic imagination.
The paintings are rendered in mixed media on paper. They depict humans and/or
animals, often located within a domestic sphere or farmyard. There may be references
to dinosaurs seen from the windows or other anachronistic details. Mirrors, doorways,
and framed artwork on the walls become portals to other realms. Animals play the role
of participant observers to the human drama. They are depicted variously as companions, sages, sources of amusement, means of transportation, and foils to daily tasks.
The collision of disparate materials and elements in these works mirrors the beauty
and fragility of the human condition.
Mark Sloan has been the director and
senior curator at the Halsey Institute
of Contemporary Art at the College
of Charleston since 1994 and is the
author of six books.
Distributed for the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art
Available 2012, 110 pages, 54 color illus.
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