Scott Vincent Campbell's first solo exhibition, Caro Kann, takes its name from a chess opening for black. A nationally-ranked competitive player as a child, the game was massively influential in the shaping and evolution of his worldview and continues to be a source of inspiration and metaphor for the artist today.
The two bodies of work presented in Caro Kann both speak to this idea of defensive strategies that individuals and societies alike employ. The exhibited sculptures and works on paper function as metaphorical stand-ins, physical reminders, of the various defensive mechanisms that we all engage in on some level in order to move through the world. These habits or tactics are not inherently harmful, but like most human inventions, possess an inherent duality. Sometimes protective and comforting; sometimes damaging and isolating, shielding us from confronting an uncomfortable reality.
In Caro Kann, Campbell explores both sides of this coin at a time when it seems that everyone has their guard up.