SIREN
Sarah Bell, Sophie McVicar Tate, Serena Perrone
November 7 – 22, 2025
Opening Reception: Friday, November 7, 5 – 7 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, November 8, 3 pm
Ground Floor Contemporary is thrilled to present Siren, an exhibition of new works by Sarah Bell, Sophie McVicar Tate, and Serena Perrone.
Sarah Bell is an artist, farmer, and educator based in Birmingham, Alabama. Descended from Chinese and American ancestry, Bell grew up using art and creativity as a way to find a sense of connection to her experiences of death, familial emigration, and home. She is greatly influenced and inspired by the use of natural and sustainable materials and the ancestry of people and the land. Bell has presented work throughout Alabama, including at the Shelby County Arts Council, Kentuck Museum Gallery, and Ground Floor Contemporary, and teaches regularly at Alabama Folk School, MAKEbhm, and other organizations.
Sophie McVicar Tate is a watercolorist making narrative paintings that utilize the historical language of naturalist and scientific illustration to explore ideas related to the animal as symbol, consciousness, and internal landscapes. Her recent exhibitions include solo shows at Room 412 and the Carnegie Center for the Visual Arts. Her work has also been included in group shows at Antler Gallery, Sumac Cottage, Swan Coach House Gallery, Red 225, Gadsden Museum of Art, Space One Eleven, Manifest Gallery, and Lowe Mill Arts. McVicar Tate received her degrees in Studio Art (BFA) and Chemistry (BS) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She currently lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama.
Serena Perrone (Atlanta, Georgia/Tusa, Sicily) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work suggests delicate narratives that find their parallels in the landscape and natural phenomena. Placing emphasis on stories marked by instances of contradiction and sentiments of ambivalence, her various constellations of works are unified by their recurring motifs, relying heavily on process, workmanship, and decoration. Perrone received an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and is an Associate Professor at Georgia State University. Her work is collected by numerous institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Perrone has received grants from South Arts, Idea Capital, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, and was nominated for the prestigious Pew Fellowship in Philadelphia in 2017.
Artwork: Serena Perrone, Lasciami Stare/Stare con me (Redux), 2023, cyanotype on fabric, 59x157 inches (detail)