The Helen S. Smith Gallery at Green River College presents: JOE BATT: CONNECTIVITY A Virtual Exhibition June 29th - September 20, 2020 [Image above: Joe Batt, Connectivity, Clay and mixed media, 2019] Virtual artist talk coming soon! Joe Batt documents and explores the super quickly expanding presence of Wi-Fi culture, digital technology, and mobile devices in our lives. While I ask viewers to think critically about the impact of our growing consumption of digital technology and media, the exhibition also focuses on what it means to have connection with others in this paradigm. The idea of exhibiting this work during the current Covid-19 epidemic pushed Batt to think deeper about how technology can help us maintain connections and, to some degree, build community. His recent series of clay figures and charcoal drawings depicts children engaged in the constantly evolving, relentless digital landscape of the 21st Century. His 2-D digital compositions, done using Photoshop Touch, offer a glimpse, through layered imagery, of the show components in a digital realm. The exhibition has evolved in recent months to include about fourteen ceramic figures, twenty large drawings on paper, twelve hanging drawings on light wood, and eight digital montages. A recent piece added to the exhibition is Conversation Piece, an interactive set of helmets viewers may wear to converse about their experiences with technology, through Face Time, in each other’s physical presence. A brand new piece in the show is called Connectivity. It features two toddlers in their pajamas, facing each other with their outreached hands nearly touching but not quite. In addition, there are several floor accessories which include ten freestanding plywood clouds and miscellaneous ceramics space junk, i.e., iPods, keyboards, etc. Image above: Joe Batt, Connectivity, Clay and mixed media, 2019 Helen S. Smith Gallery, Green River College<https://www.greenriver.edu/community/art-gallery/> This exhibition is online only. Due to Covid-19, the gallery is currently closed to the public. We look forward to seeing you come by to visit in the future! Sarah Dillon Gilmartin, Gallery Director: sdillon@greenriver.edu<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fsdillon%40greenriver.edu%2F&data=02%7C01%7Csdillon%40greenriver.edu%7C0408a354082f4de2e77a08d81ad1e657%7Cfa40663e972749789bce776cf824bca5%7C0%7C0%7C637288836108114426&sdata=PwNFtsVPXAEeV2al80r%2B%2F%2BRMLc0SbqGxMd7kxBDr0CU%3D&reserved=0> 12401 SE 320th St., Auburn, WA 98092 (The Gallery is located across the hall from the Holman Library) 253.833.9111 x 4213