FoR the Gods
April 26 – July 31, 2018
Reception: April 24, 6 – 8 p.m.
For the Gods is an exhibition of photographs that considers various facets of India’s economic and social structure in the wake of globalization. The photographs are designed to communicate contrasts within current environmental and economic realities in India, and to raise questions of cause and effect, within our small world of finite resources.
Priscilla Briggs is a fiscal year 2018 recipient of an Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Artist Statement
For the Gods is an exhibition of photographs that considers various facets of India’s economic and social structure in the wake of globalization. While the caste system is technically illegal, it is embedded in centuries of social and religious belief. The already wide contrast between rich and poor has been compounded by globalization and its effect on the environment. These photographs are designed to communicate contrasts within current environmental and economic realities in India. A gleaming pool within a gated community contrasts with the river of toxic foam that flows a short distance from its gates. The intent of this work is to raise questions of cause and effect, within our small world of finite resources.
The title for the exhibit comes from an experience I had while visiting the Golden Temple in Varanasi. As I lifted a garland of flowers from my basket of offerings to breathe in the aroma, the temple guide stopped me short and informed me, “The smell is not for you, it is for the gods.”
Bio
Priscilla Briggs is an artist and an Associate Professor at Gustavus Adolphus College. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her research has been supported by artist grants from the McKnight Foundation and the Minnesota State Arts Board, as well as various professional research grants. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Landskrona Photo Salon in Sweden, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Minneapolis International Film Festival, the DeVos Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Louisville Photo Biennial, and the Living Arts New Genre Festival in Tulsa, OK. Her artist monograph, Impossible Is Nothing: China’s Theater of Consumerism, was published last year by Daylight Books.