Mindfulness Highway

August 2, 2022
Camille Schubert
Salt Lake City Public Library
801-322-8156 cschubert@slcpl.org
Salt Lake City Public Library to Exhibit Artwork by Layne Meacham
Salt Lake City Public Library presents, Mindfulness Highway: Paintings by Layne Meacham. Opening August 13, 2022 at The Salt Lake City Public Library, Gallery at Library Square, Level 4, the exhibit features recent work by local artist Layne Meacham.
Meacham explains, “Mindfulness Highway 2022” is not a body of work as Edwin Twombly and Robert Rauschenberg suggested that “need not express anything at all, except itself”. On the contrary, Mindfulness Highway is intended to trigger the thousand experiences we have all had driving endlessly down the highways to arrive at an odd or beautiful place; however, I try to stress shape, color and most of all texture. Once we arrive at the destinations of wonder we seem to forget the highway, how it hypnotized us by staring forever at the lines on the highway as we sailed along, and all of the odds and ends we viewed on the way to the destinations, and the gas stations, quicky marts where we bought soda, coffee, chips, etc.; where we had our kids say over and over “are we there yet.” We now solely focus on the national geographic destination we were expected to go to so we could tell our friends we were there.
On another level, we never really see asphalt up close, even inches away. I find that the asphalt is very interesting and even beautiful. Here I have placed the road on a white wall in contrast to the black asphalt, which likely has never been seen in a gallery before in this fashion. Here the viewer is welcome to touch or even rub the road and the stripes. I also was thinking of Bogota, Colombia with a population of over 9,000,000 people, which I am fond of, and have visited quite frequently. Approximately 1,000,000 a day ride their bicycles every day in Bogota to their jobs or schools. You can rub the bicyclists painted on the asphalt and closely examine and contemplate the many times the long distances some cyclists travel every day in Utah.
Mindfulness Highway will be shown at The Salt Lake City Public Library, Gallery at Library Square, Level 4, 210 East 400 South, from August 14, 2022 to September 23, 2022. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 13, 2022 from 4pm-5:30pm.
The Salt Lake City Public Library is open Mon–Thu 10am–8pm, Fri–Sat 10am–6pm and Sun 11am–5pm. For more information on viewing the exhibition, please call 801-524-8200 or go to https://events.slcpl.org/artexhibits.