SAUDADE and other untranslatable words: a group invitational exhibition

ZINC contemporary celebrates its one year anniversary with a group show, SAUDADE & Other Untranslatable Words, Thursday, August 3 – Saturday, September 2, 2017. Curated by ZINC founder, Laura Zeck, SAUDADE includes work by artists Kelly Bjork, Ling Chun, Layne Kleinart, Holly Ballard Martz, Gene Gentry McMahon, Barbara Robertson, Shirley Scheier, and Katy Stone and will be unveiled during the opening reception on Thursday, August 3, 2017, 5-8pm, as part of First Thursday Art Walk and in conjunction with Seattle Art Fair.

Saudade, a Portuguese word, describes a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent. This is the driving force behind Zeck’s curation of the show: "Coming up on our one year anniversary, I have been thinking a lot about communication - in politics, in the home between friends and lovers and family, in the workplace, face to face versus device to device and all of the ways we are all trying to get through to one and other. So often I feel that there isn't a word for what I am feeling or trying to explain - I just can't find it. The idea that other cultures often have words for things that we do not - and investigating that idea felt like the perfect concept for this exhibit, and perhaps by embracing these words, we will find our way to common ground," says Zeck on Saudade.

Each artist was given a list of words to inspire a piece and and worked from there. Learn more about the words, the reasons the artists have chosen a word, and the visual language that has come from this exercise. 

Exhibited artists:  Kelly Bjork  |  Ling Chun  |  Layne Kleinart  |  Holly Ballard Martz | 

Gene Gentry McMahon  |  Barbara Robertson  |  Schirley Scheier  |  Katy Stone