January 9–February 9, 2020
Williams Center Gallery
Elizabeth Johnson | guest curator

Passing Bittersweet features work that embodies ideas garnered from reading Lafayette alumnus Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights. His chatty, humorous, open-ended essays were culled from a year of daily asking himself: “What delights me?” Self-study and identity merge with the places, people, books, and routines that make Ross Gay happy. From inside what
he calls “intense fleeting attentions,” Gay maintains a practice of acknowledging what is beautiful in the midst of the brutal.

The artists of Passing Bittersweet were chosen not because they illustrate Gay’s delights or process, but because their personal delights find aesthetic, physical ways to reframe negativity. The gathered artworks echo Gay’s conviction that numberless, small, positive human actions and transactions dispel what is dark, lonely, and unjust. Passing Bittersweet honors Ross Gay, The Book of Delights, and artists who validate vulnerable, peripheral, and oft-overlooked treasures of common experience.

Passing Bittersweet includes works by Lafayette faculty: Pedro BarbeitoGreta Bergrstresser, Jase ClarkChawne Kimber, Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, Taller Workshop/Nestor Gil, and Jim Toia.


Pat Badt, Sprites, 2012–2014, oil on wooden slab with live edge; 53 x 8 ½ x 1 in. (right), 72 x 8¼ x 1 in. (left).
Pedro Barbeito, Sampex, 2000, relief print with embossment, engraving,
& pigment on handmade paper, 15 ⅛ x 21 ¼ in.
    CGRO, 2000, relief print with embossment, engraving
& pigment on handmade paper, 15 ⅛ x 21 ¼ in.
Katrina Bello, Rockscape, 2016, graphite on paper, 6 ½ x 9 ½ in.
    Weed Peekers, 2016, charcoal and graphite on paper, 5½ x 8 in.
    Swampscape, 2016, charcoal and graphite on paper, 5½ x 8 in.
    Petrified and Peeking, 2016, graphite on paper, 5 ½ x 8 in.
Greta Bergstresser, Mom’s Canna Lilies, 2019, archival pigment print, 30 x 20 in.
    Thanksgiving Pig, 2011, archival pigment print, 21 x 14 in.
    Watching the Geese, 2018, archival pigment print, 14 x 21 in.
Berrisford Boothe, Toward The Finite And The Absolute, 2018, acrylic on panel, 30 in. diam. x 1 ¾ in.
   Target Motion Analysis, 2018, acrylic on panel, 20 in. diam. x 1 ½ in.
Jase Clark, Parasitic Structures, 2015, video, 7:34.
Enrico Richard Gomez, Cuervo I.II, 2017, compressed charcoal on paper, 10 x 10 in.
   Los Cuervos, 2019, compressed charcoal on paper, 12 x 12 in.
    Edelweiss: Southermost, Ka Lae, Hawaii, Chrysoprase,Tiwaz (American Sunset Series), 2019, watercolor, water-soluble pencil, marble dust, and acrylic on paper, 8 x 10 in., sheet size.
Rachael Gorchov, Rock Cloud, 2017, glazed ceramic in parts, digitally printed vinyl, 13 x 47 x 18 in.
   Oculus iii, 2017, glazed ceramic & archival inject print on adhesive backed vinyl, 12 x 15 x 30 in.
Femi J. Johnson, Guernica Street, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 in.
   The Puppet Road, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22 in.
   Public Display of Affection, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 in.
Chawne Kimber
   there’s some left, 2019, handdyed cotton, linen, wool,silk; improvisationally pieced and hand quilted,37 ¾ x 48 ½ in. overall.
Tom McGlynn, Acoma 1, 2012, acrylic on birch panel, 18 x 24 in.
   Decal (Pink Grounded), 2019, acrylic on birch panel,36 x 36 in.
Alex Paik, Partial Parallelogram (Trapezoid), 2019, gouache, colored pencil, paper, nails, dimensions variable.
   Improvisation #3 of Equilateral Triangle (Open), 2016, gouache, colored pencil, paper, 5 ½ x 10 x ½ in.
Scott Sherk. Cellar, 2019, lacquered MDF, electronics, audio file,7 ¾ x 16 x 16, with pedestal, 32 x 16 x 16 in.
Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, Chimborazo, Ecuador (night), from The Railroad, Workers series, 2016, folded and collaged archival, inkjet prints, 17 x 22 in.
Anthony Smith Jr., Pilot (Or How Do You Stop A Flying Dreadnought), No. 8, 2018, mixed media painting, 24 x 71 in.
Lisa Stefanelli, Crowd Pleaser Series: Oculus Path, 2019, digitally aided, material printed on aluminum with floating mount, 30 x 45 in.
Mark Street, Flutter, 2020, video, 12:09.
Taller Workshop/Nestor Gil, embrión, 2020, performances, January 12 & February , 2020.
Kate Teale, Rear Window, 2017, acrylic on canvas and mulberry paper over board, 24 x 18 in.
Going Dark, 2018, acrylic on canvas and mulberry paper over board, 16 x 12 in.
Bay, Atlantic 2, 2017, acrylic on canvas and mulberry paper over board, 24 x 36 in.
Jim Toia, Wood Pecked Birch, 2008, found object:birch bark pecked by ellow-bellied sapsucker(s), 11 ½ x 11 ¾ x 1 ½ in. framed.
Composition A Recomposed, 2008, wood and paint, Plexiglas mount, 12 x 12 x 1-1/2 in.
Composition of Red & White & 1, 2008, wood and paint, Plexiglas mount, 12 x 12 x 1 ½ in.
Composition # 1 Recomposed, 2008, wood and paint, Plexiglas mount, 8 x 8 x 1 ½ in.
Fritz Van Orden, Baby Candle Circle, 2019, pencil and ink on paper, 5 ½ x 7 ⅜ in.
Save 20% Off, 2019, pencil and ink on paper, 5 ½ x 7 ⅜ in.
Your Stamp on This, 2019, pencil and ink on paper, 5 ½ x 7 ⅜ in.
142 Cont I’m There, 2019, pencil and ink on paper,5 ½ x 7 ⅜ in.
Opaque Speedo Pidgin, 2019, pencil on paper, 8 x 10 in.
Tenesh Webber. Untitled 7, 2019, framed drawing, charcoal pencil on Stonehenge paper, 13 x 11 in.
Untitled 9, 2019, framed drawing, charcoal pencil on Stonehenge paper, 13 x 11 in.
Untitled 14, 2019, charcoal pencil on Stonehenge paper, 13 x 11 in.
Eileen Weitzman, Fly Me to the Moon, 2019, acylic, fabric, papier mâché, yarn, found objects, 20 x 21 x 10 in.
I Only Have Eyes for You, 2006, acrylic, fabric, photos, papier mâché, found objects, 68 x 29 x 24 in.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 2012, acrylic, fabric, papier mâché, found objects, on wheels, 68 x 45 x 25 in.
Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall, 2017, acrylic, fabric, papier mâché, clay, found objects, 68 x 45 x 25 in.
Luke Wynne, Victoria Jackson, 1986–1992, vintage silver gelatin print, Agfa-Brovira paper, edition 1/1, 14 x 11 in.
Paul Mazursky, 1989, vintage silver gelatin print, Agfa-Brovira paper, edition 1/1, 14 x 11 in.
Jacqueline Bisset, 1989, vintage silver gelatin print, Agfa-Brovira paper, edition 1/1, 11 x 14 in.
Divine, 1985, vintage silver gelatin print, Agfa-Brovira paper, edition 1/1, 14 x 11 in.
Whoopi Goldberg, 1989, vintage silver gelatin print, Agfa-Brovira paper, edition 1/1, 14 x 11 in.
Tina Turner Look-Aike, 1985, vintage silver gelatin print, Agfa-Brovira paper, edition 1/1, 11 x 14 in.
Ghen Zando-Dennis, Gustavo After Maria, 2018, digital video, 4:30.