ROCHESTER, MN.- Shannon Fitzgerald, Rochester Art Center’s new Executive Director’s first curated exhibition for the Art Center said: “We are excited to present our summer exhibition The Protagonist: Narrative & Animation that includes compelling work by 6 internationally recognized artists- working across disciplines, but with a shared interest in animation. We are delighted to present work by Barry Anderson, Tara Najd Ahmadi, Allison Schulnik, Catharina van Eetvelde, Hank Willis Thomas, and Marina Zurkow to this part of the county for the first time.” Says Shannon Fitzgerald, Executive Director, Rochester Art Center and curator of the exhibition.

“It is a privilege to be able to think about narrative and visual storytelling anew through the powerful work presented in this exhibition. As diverse as the artists are, the shared interest in narrative is exciting and unfolds in a really thoughtful way. It is exciting to also bring work across disciplines that inform and underscore the distinctive formal compositions and tactile quality of the moving images. As visual parables, the significance of photography, painting, film, puppetry, sculpture, and drawing unfold in linear and non-linear formats activating the environment in which the protagonist begins to navigate—with end, and without end.” Fitzgerald continues.

The Protagonist: Narrative & Animation
Barry Anderson | Tara Najd Ahmadi | Allison Schulnik | Catharina van Eetvelde | Hank Willis Thomas | Marina Zurkow

The Protagonist: Narrative & Animation explores narrative in short animated film and video as found in all forms of human creativity and art. The exhibition presents enthralling work that pushes the boundaries of storytelling through the perspective of several highly performative protagonists by six internationally recognized artists.

It is explores narrative in short animated film and video as found in all forms of human creativity and art. The exhibition presents enthralling work that pushes the boundaries of storytelling through the perspective of several highly performative protagonists by six internationally recognized artists.

The protagonist can be literal or implied, lone or collective. Human and non-human characters traverse and chronicle distinct narratives about individual experiences. Plots yield poignant responses to complex themes such as violence, isolation, loneliness, nostalgia, commodity, activism, the environment, natural and human-made disaster, futility, and technology.

Employing several narrative modes, such as metaphor and cadence, the artists together express the human desire and necessity for individuals and collectives to tell their story, give agency to events (real or imagined), heed warning, and feel the value of communication—as essential to humanity.

Each artist accomplishes this through a variety of unique animation processes and imaginative sequencing along with use of both simple and advanced technology. As contextual compositions, the artists also fuse music, poetry, spoken word, and silence to portray narrative—a journey, transformation, movement through time, and stillness— that addresses profound social and emotional themes. The work gathered here reveals numerous psychological processes involved in the building and dismantling of history, the construction of identity, and the power found in memory and reflection, warning, and homage.

Additionally, work across disciplines are included that inform and underscore the distinctive formal compositions and tactile quality of the moving images. As visual parables, the significance of photography, painting, film, puppetry, sculpture, and drawing unfold in linear and non-linear formats activating the environment in which the protagonist begins to navigate—with end, and without end.

The positions of the artists are diverse, yet complimentary as individual works reflect a shared interest in narrative form and the power to communicate through animation. Taken together, the artists in The Protagonist conjure and represent narrative gathered from the people around us—and experiences near and far—to emphasize the lived experience in all its diversity.