UNION 001 // WHAT STILL HOLDS — Opening Reception

Opening reception for WHAT STILL HOLDS, with painter Jared K. Faulkner and assemblage artist Christian Frontera at UNION Fine Art Gallery. UNION 001 // WHAT STILL HOLDSJared K. Faulkner + Christian Frontera Opening Reception — Friday, November 13, 2026 | 7:30–10:00 PM UNION Fine Art Gallery at Erie Labor Temple | Erie, Pennsylvania Something changes. Something breaks. Something still holds. On Friday, November 13, UNION Fine Art Gallery opens WHAT STILL HOLDS, its inaugural exhibition, bringing together the work of painter Jared K. Faulkner and assemblage artist Christian Frontera in the Great Union Hall at Erie Labor Temple. Two artists. Two very different practices. One question worth spending some time with. How much can something change before it stops holding together? THE EXHIBITION A painting begins to resemble something familiar. Perhaps a body, a machine, a building, or a symbol. Just as recognition starts to settle, the image changes direction. An ordinary object is taken apart. Its pieces are cut, rearranged, joined to other materials, or put to an entirely different use. You can still recognize where some of those pieces came from, but the object is no longer quite what it was. WHAT STILL HOLDS brings these two ways of working into the same room. This is not an exhibition about finding beauty in broken things or insisting that everything can be repaired. It is about what happens when an image or object is pushed away from its expected identity without completely losing its structure. The work can be uncertain without being careless. Strange without being arbitrary. Interrupted without falling apart. JARED K. FAULKNER // THE IMAGE Faulkner makes paintings that resist settling into easy recognition. His surfaces are built through layers, interruptions, cuts, joins, and stitching. Forms appear and change. An image may approach something recognizable, then retreat before the viewer can comfortably name it. There is precision in the work, but also a willingness to let the painting move beyond the original plan. The result is not quite abstraction and not quite representation. It occupies that difficult and interesting territory between the two. CHRISTIAN FRONTERA // THE OBJECT Frontera works with found objects, furniture parts, discarded materials, paper, hardware, and the assorted things that tend to accumulate around us. He takes them apart, combines them, and builds something that did not exist before. His sculptures and assemblages retain their histories. Screws remain visible. Joints, repairs, odd proportions, and imperfect edges are allowed to stay. Some pieces may strike you as funny. Others may seem awkward, uneasy, or unexpectedly familiar. But beneath the apparent improvisation is a concern for how the object is actually put together. The work can look precarious without being unsound. TWO ARTISTS. ONE ROOM. Faulkner challenges what we think we're looking at. Frontera challenges what we think an object is supposed to be. Their work is not presented as two versions of the same idea. The differences matter. Bringing them together gives each practice another way to be seen. You don't need a background in contemporary art to spend time with this exhibition. You don't need to know the artists beforehand, and there's no interpretation you're expected to arrive at. Look closely. Move around the work. Notice what you recognize, what changes, and what you find yourself returning to. Take your time with it. THE OPENING RECEPTION Join us on Friday, November 13, for the opening of the exhibition and the beginning of UNION Fine Art Gallery's public exhibition program. The setting is the Great Union Hall, on the third floor of Erie Labor Temple in downtown Erie. The room has required a great deal of physical preparation. It's an old building, and we're not interested in pretending otherwise. But the paintings and objects are the reason for the evening. The room is there to give them the space and attention they deserve. Whether you're an artist, collector, student, neighbor, longtime gallery visitor, or someone who simply enjoys encountering something unfamiliar, you're invited to come see the work. EVENT DETAILS Friday, November 13, 2026 7:30–10:00 PM UNION Fine Art Gallery Great Union Hall, Third Floor Erie Labor Temple 1701 State Street Erie, PA 16501 EXHIBITION DATES November 13 – December 20, 2026 ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING Artists' Salon — Sunday, December 6, 5:30–7:00 PM LAST LIGHT / Exhibition Closing — Sunday, December 20, 4:30–7:30 PM Separate event details and registration information will be provided for these gatherings. VISITOR INFORMATION UNION is located on the third floor of a historic building. Access conditions may vary depending on the room and event setup. If you have mobility or other accessibility needs, please contact us before your visit so we can explain the available arrangements accurately. For current information about the exhibition, visiting, and the gallery: https://www.erielabortemple.com/what-still-holds Questions: [email protected] ABOUT UNION FINE ART GALLERY UNION Fine Art Gallery is an exhibition and cultural program at Erie Labor Temple, dedicated to presenting serious contemporary work and giving artists, their ideas, and their processes a place to meet the public. UNION 001 // WHAT STILL HOLDS is curated by Edward Patrick Kranz. ART WORKS HERE.