Portable Coordinates: Crystalle Lacouture

Artist Talk: CANCELLED. All registrants have been notified. Praise Shadows is honored to announce _Portable Coordinates_, the gallery’s second solo exhibition by Crystalle Lacouture and the first solo presentation at the new Downtown Boston location. Expanding on her printmaking, painting and installation practice, Lacouture unveils an entirely new body of work, comprising illuminated sculptures, paintings on paper and on board, woodblock prints, _MAMA Drawings_ on scorekeeper shooting targets, and flags that are both artwork and wearable pieces. Also included is the newest iteration of _Half Mast_, a memorial for gun violence victims made from a compilation of drawings. The breadth of these materials and formats reflects Lacouture’s steadfast exploration of symbols and codes as forms of communication. The gallery will host an artist talk with Lacouture moderated by Kate McNamara, the John R. & Barbara Robinson Family Director, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, on Thursday, May 28 from 6:30 to 7:30pm. _Portable Coordinates_ is inspired by the book _The Stars: A New Way to See Them_, published in 1952 by H. A. Rey, which opened up and simplified the lay person’s understanding of the constellations. According to Lacouture, “I’m deeply inspired by Rey’s poetic and accessible translation of something as vast and intangible as constellations into portable and highly relatable narrative images.” Lacouture views the story of H. A. and Margret Reys (who created the _Curious George_ books and were long-time residents of Harvard Square, Cambridge) as a truly American one: they were refugees who settled in the local area and left a lasting cultural impact. Lacouture’s show expands upon _The Stars_ and her ongoing interest in elemental symbols to offer an interpretive experience of navigation, connections, memorials, and care.