Projective Eye Gallery Presents Kirsten Stolle: “Under the Influence”

The College of Arts + Architecture is pleased to present the exhibition Under the Influence in the Projective Eye Gallery at The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City. Under the Influence features new works by Asheville-based artist Kirsten Stolle.

Stolle works in collage, text-based images, and installation. Informed by years of research and pitched at the intersections of art, science, and culture, her work examines the global influence of chemical companies on our food system, the environment, and human health. Delving into propaganda and greenwashing, Stolle appropriates corporate advertising strategies and aesthetics, highlighting the contradiction between public image and facts. Her recent projects have investigated agribusiness disinformation, chemical company marketing campaigns, and the historical ties between Bayer-Monsanto and chemical warfare.

“I first became aware of Monsanto through my mother’s activism in Santa Cruz, California, in the early 1990s,” Stolle said in a 2022 interview with the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art. “I was curious and, of course, alarmed by the thought that Monsanto, a company with historically deep roots in producing toxic herbicides, was developing genetically engineered crops to withstand high levels of chemicals. Certainly, as I began to dig deeper, additional chemical companies such as Dow, Syngenta, Bayer, DuPont, etc. came to the forefront.”

Stolle said that after experiencing pesticide related health issues herself, she began to create art based on those health and political concerns. “I am very interested in the intersection of art and science and the potential for art to bring new perspectives to contemporary scientific issues.”

Stolle is a Pollock-Krasner Grant recipient, and her work is in the collections of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas, San Jose Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, and Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Solo exhibitions include NOME (Berlin), Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (Charleston, S.C.), and Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (Winston-Salem, N.C.).  Select group exhibitions include Charlotte’s Mint Museum,  North Carolina Museum of Art, the Weatherspoon Museum of Art (Greensboro, N.C), Fridman Gallery (New York City), Jack Fischer Gallery (San Francisco) and internationally at Balzer Projects (Switzerland) and Central Museum of Textiles (Poland).

Stolle’s work has been published in Harper’s, The Atlantic, Photograph, Topic, and Poetry Magazine, among many others. She has been awarded residencies at the Bogliasco Foundation, Ucross Foundation, Millay Arts, Blue Mountain Center, Willapa Bay AiR, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Marble House Project, and Ballinglen Arts Foundation.

“We are excited to host this exhibition by Kirsten Stolle,” said Adam Justice, director of galleries for the College of Arts + Architecture. “These never before exhibited works continue Stolle’s deep dive into the history of Monsanto and the chemical warfare it created within the country’s food production systems. She uses original source material, including magazine ads and redacted documents, to present multimedia critiques that can be appreciated as much for their vibrant visual compositions as they can for their cautionary message.” 

Under the Influence will be on view in the Projective Eye Gallery through October 17. Stolle will be at the gallery on September 11 for a reception and artist talk. Learn more about her work at her website.