Earth Day 2024 is Here -- Learn How to Reduce Your Plastic Waste Footprint at Local Artist Exhibit

In celebration of Earth Day, an exhibit addressing plastic pollution opens 12:30 - 3:30 pm, Saturday, April 20 at AOS, Adrienne Outlaw’s studio and showroom on 3115 Locust Street, 63103. Consumed addresses the critical need for creative solutions to the pressing plastic pollution problem with an elegant and joyful exhibition. The family-friendly event includes activities for easily reducing, recycling, and repurposing.

Adrienne Outlaw’s studio and showroom on 3115 Locust Street

Adrienne Outlaw puts finishing touches on "Reef" Reef, 2024 Bottle Caps, Zip Ties, Aluminum Frame, Vinyl coated hardware cloth One-half of diptych 39” x 99” x 4” Description: Reef is composed of thousands of multilayered, post-consumer bottle caps in aluminum frames. Photo credit: Elena Piston

To make Consumed, Outlaw spent two years collecting and cleaning and three years cutting and recombining her family’s plastic waste into sculpture.

“I’m literally airing my family’s garbage to encourage dialogue about it,” said Outlaw. “It stuns me how much we use.” 

Adrienne Outlaw looks inside "United" United, 2023 (partial view), 84” x 12” x 5”, Plastic milk jugs, vinyl, paper Description: 56 gallons of milk jugs attached to a color field collage. Date stamps show the time the containers were collected. Mirrors and portraits of agricultural workers can be viewed through the bottlenecks Photo credit: Elena Piston

Outlaw has long addressed issues of global consumerism and its impact on health, but it was a summer spent in Southeast Asia in 2019 that turned her attention to plastic pollution.

“During the trip, I saw the global impact of our plastic waste,” Outlaw said. “When I got back home, I got right to work. St. Louis is critically important to solving these issues due to its proximity to the Mississippi.”

The Mississippi River is the drainage system for 40% of the United States. It carries our plastic pollution to the Gulf and beyond, where it degrades into unrecoverable microplastics. 

Reef, 2024 Bottle Caps, Zip Ties, Aluminum Frame, vinyl-coated hardware cloth 99" x 81” x 4” Description: Reef is composed of thousands of multilayered, post-consumer bottle caps using zip ties to connect the caps to hardware cloth that is secured to an aluminum frame. This shows the backside.

Outlaw moved from Nashville to St. Louis in 2015. She purchased and renovated the building on Locust Street to contribute to the city’s revitalization and have a space large enough to accommodate groups for her social practice work. Consumed is supported by a grant from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.

“I love working with plastic. It's colorful, it connects with viewers, and it makes a powerful statement about the environment,” said Outlaw.

Reef, 2024 Bottle Caps, Zip Ties, Aluminum Frame, Vinyl coated hardware cloth 81” x 99” x 4” Description: Reef is composed of thousands of multilayered, post-consumer bottle caps in aluminum frame diptych.

Outlaw has exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and abroad in Europe, Asia, and Africa. More than two dozen museums have exhibited her work at such institutions as MASS MOCA, Islip Art Museum, and MOCA Fort Collins. Galleries across the United States have awarded her solo shows. Her work has been featured across all media and fine art publications such as Art in America, Art Papers, and World Sculpture News. Outlaw’s work has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Andy Warhol Foundation, The Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, and Critical Mass.

Artist Adrienne Outlaw looks inside "Ghost" Ghost, 2023, 60" x 24" x 24" Description: Transparent tomato containers, joined together with zip ties Photo credit: Elena Piston

25% of prints sold on Earth Day will be donated to Missouri River Relief. Following the opening, AOS will be open by appointment. For more information, please visit her on Facebook.