“The Dictionary Poem Project” by Jane Birdsall-Lander is a new exhibition in Grand Center’s High Low gallery that takes the viewer on a journey into the center of language.
Birdsall-Lander’s presents an ever-expanding list of words with pronunciations, etymologies, definitions, graphics and other information in 14 framed archival prints. Each word’s “meaning” evolves from its standard origin and definition, finally becoming a “dictionary poem” that is more associative and poetic than a particular word’s conventional meaning.
“While I’m passionate about all my artwork and writing, the dictionary poems are particularly important to me,” Birdsall-Lander said. “In terms of communication, they are accessible, seeming to bridge divisions of class, age and ethnicity.”
Birdsall-Lander is a St. Louis-based artist who has achieved recognition for her installations of visual art, poetry and sculpture. Her art investigates the relationship between language and object or image. Works include small-scale figures accompanied by poems, large-scale installations of poetry and objects, wall panels meditating on the evolution of the modern alphabet, and sculptural pieces that are both ideas and primordial forms.
She has exhibited her work at the Contemporary Art Museum, Elliot Smith Contemporary Art, and Duane Reed Gallery, all in St. Louis, and the Schmidt Art Center in Belleville, Illinois. Her work is in private collections across the country, as well as in Washington University’s special collections, The Writer’s Place in Kansas City, and the Mitchell Museum in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Her poems have been published in numerous journals.
A literary arts café, High Low is a new venue for freedom of expression through spoken and written word in the Grand Center Arts District, and is operated by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. High Low encourages creativity and literacy, and features a library, Blueprint Coffee, the gallery, performance and event space, and dedicated office space.
The Dictionary Poem Project will be on display at High Low through Friday, April 10. It is one of 14 exhibitions in the Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s 2020 visual arts program that is centered on the overarching theme of knowledge.
For more information on Birdsall-Lander, visit rootlanguage.com. High Low is located at 3301 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103. For more information, visit highlow.
