Socially Engaged Art, in words, pictures, and sounds.....

During the month of April something I look forward to every year is happening, besides the coming of spring!  Open Engagement, a conference that looks at, discusses, theorizes and embraces socially engaged art, happening this year in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University.  This free, three day event is the most exciting, thought-provoking and uplifting event I try to attend each year. This sense of excitement lasts long into the year and becomes a resource for many of my future projects.

So this year I plan to bring the conference back to YOU!  We’ll start now with some links to last year’s event which was held at the Queens Museum in Queens, NY and one of the Key note speakers: Mierle Laderman Ukeles.   Or click here to get to the special Open Engagement page.

I am also including some links to projects started by one of this year’s key note speakers, artist Rick Lowe and Project Row houses.  Plus Conflict Kitchen, by artist Jon Rubin, a cafe that only serves food from countries that the U.S. is currently in conflict with.  While I am there I will post some new links and images on the blog as the events unfold. Plus I will record all the workshops and talks I attend for you to listen to later! Because April is quite busy with travel (visiting family early in the month and then on to Pittsburgh later,) we won’t meet again until Monday May 4, 6-7:45pm, at the Library. 

Here are two very interesting upcoming local events I plan to attend and would love to have you join me:

Thompson Giroux Gallery
Passage Path Road Route Way - an exhibition featuring artists in the early stages of their career. 57 Main Street, Chatham, NY April 25 - May 31, 2015 (opening date info to follow)

Jack Shainman Gallery
Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary of The School with an exhibition of El Anatsui Sunday, May 17, 2015 at The School, 25 Broad Street, Kinderhook, NY 

Greg Skochko with the money...this case
weighted 36 lbs!

A final note on last month's blog topic of Art and Money:  While at the Armory Art Fair with some grad school chums early March, something funny happened.  My friend Greg Skochko discovered an artist piece that addresses just this topic.  A large metal case was on display filled with ONE MILLION DOLLARS and if one put their cell number down, could win the opportunity to carry the case around the show, hand-cuffed to the case and with an escort.  The subject of how much money was moving around during the art fair was made literal.  Well, here is a snapshot of Greg hand-cuffed to the money!

Art....and Money.

Left: Incommunicado, M. Sarris 2015, Right: Special Edition Silver Dollar, Tim Noble and Sue Webster 2007

The readymade concept was tossed around and enjoyed by all who attended our last meeting.  What came out of this conversation was the thread that will lead to our next discussion topic: value and the commodification of art or more simply put, “Art and Money.”  


One could argue that this is an incredibly large and multi-faceted topic.  The readings included offer a range of ideas to think about including: the effects of money (sometimes very large sums,) on the art world, finding alternative methods of producing art to avoid this trap, and art made of money, to name a few.

I am including several articles and some that are quite long.  Dig in and see what you think.  It’s cold and snowy out there, why not settle in to a long read or two!  The next meeting will be: 

Monday, March 9, from 6 -7:45 at the library upstairs.  See you there!

Readymades/made by you

Our last few meetings have been very interesting with new members participating and heating up the conversations (despite the weather!)  We keep swirling around issues of how to evaluate what is happening today in the art world and how it relates to us back home here in Chatham.  The last time I was down in the city I saw a show titled:  The Thing and the Thing-In-Itself at the Andrea Rosen Gallery.

This show, curated by noted art historian Robert Hobbs focuses on the limits of human understanding that Immanuel Kant contemplated in the Critique of Pure Reason.  Ideas about how humans can only know things in the world by referencing their own experiences or “constructed views.”  Somehow these ideas and the artworks featured seems like a really interesting place for us to pick up the conversation!  By chance I also had the opportunity to see a show called By Proxy at the James Cohan Gallery.  This show brings into the conversation different tools and techniques the artist may use to create work that goes beyond what they can do with their own hands.  Between these two shows there is ample art historical information and innovative ideas we can have fun discussing at our next meeting: February 9, 2015 6-7:45pm, at the Chatham Public Library.

Readymades/made by you: to make the discussion even more interesting YOU are invited to bring in three everyday objects (or images of.) In honor of Marcel Duchamp (with work featured in both shows mentioned above,) and the notion of “readymades,” arguably one of the most important twentieth century ideas about art.  Brainstorm a list of titles for your readymades. Display or take snapshots of your readymades along with their titles. 

Did wordplay or humor play a role in the titles you selected? How do the titles affect the way these everyday objects are perceived by yourself and others? (Take a look at the links to read a little more about this artist and concepts.)

Here is a little questionnaire I found on the MoMA website to help with the process:

What Makes a Work of Art?

Make a list of your criteria for what art is by considering these questions:

• What should an artwork provide to both the maker and the viewer?
• Who is it for?
• Where does one encounter art?
• What is the role of the artist?

Some very fine quotes by Marcel Duchamp:

 “Art is not about itself but the attention we bring to it.”

“Do unto others as they wish, but with imagination.” 

“Art is either plagiarism or revolution.

“I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.” 

“I don't believe in art. I believe in artists.” 

“I force myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.” 

MORE Show and Tell...

Greetings from the land of show and tell.  Folks came and showed their favorite artworks and we had a very interesting conversation.  Not everyone who wanted to was able to attend so....we are doing it again for our next meeting, Monday January 12, 2015 at the Chatham Public Library 6pm.  Here is your big second chance to show and tell.  Take a look at the readings because we will also make time to bring this information into our conversation.

While we are on the subject of narrative in contemporary art, you might want to take a listen to the beginning of the Audio Walking Tour of Chatham here.  This link will take you to sound cloud a website where I have uploaded 7 stories.  Want to hear more?  Do you or someone you know have a story to tell that occurred somewhere in the Village of Chatham?  There’s still time to participate.  In February 2015 stop by the Joyce Goldstein Gallery at 16 Main Street to hear more stories told by you!  Then, learn more about ART in the HOUSE for March 2015.  (To learn more about the artworks you brought in, come to the next meeting!)

Show and Tell: Narrative in Contemporary Art

Ahmed Alsoudani at Gladstone Gallery
Untitled

 This month’s theme is Show and Tell - you are all invited to bring in your favorite work of art to our next meeting, Monday Dec. 1, to show and tell why you like it and what it means to you.  If you do not own your favorite work of art or it is too large to carry, a digital image is OK.  The point is to have a conversation about an artwork we are really fascinated by and how this intersects with our own story.

In honor of the show and tell theme I have added links about

narrative and storytelling in contemporary art.  The Art 55 link gives an interesting historical overview, while the Artsy link considers this form as a kind of trend that has been in and out.  Both provide a whole bunch of interesting images too.

I have also included images of three contemporary artists

Lynette Yiadom -Boakye at Jack Shainman Gallery
Any Number of Preoccupations

works here for you take a look at.  Each of these artists have shows right now in Chelsea, NY. Can you tell a story just from looking at them here? Does the title give you any extra information? Where does this story take place? Who are the main characters?  What happens?  Can’t wait to hear all of your stories on Monday, Dec. 1, 6:30-7:45pm in the teen room at the Chatham Public library.

Martin Puryear at Matthew Marks Gallery
Phrygian Plot

The Labeling of Art

Depending on the medium an artist works in, their output isn’t usually questioned.  Painting is a good example of this. Today the artist’s output manifests in a multitude of forms going beyond the traditional mediums of paint or metal to include collaboration and conversation. In a world where social practice and other esoteric forms of conceptual art are now part of the contemporary art cannon, confusion is possible for the layman.  

And what about photography, whether its subtitle is “fine art photography” or “documentary photography?”  If the work is useful, can it also be art?  The contemporary art reading and discussion group will attempt to dig into these ideas, fortified by the readings listed to the left.  So come to the library on Nov. 3, 6:30- 7:45pm, (in the teen room) and be part of the conversation!

Here are a few excellent artists links with work that is either directly mentioned or relevant to this conversation:  Tania Bruguera  Tony Marioni Tim Hetherington Kerry James Marshall

Working Girls, Lemurs, and Balloon Dogs...must be Contemporary Art!

Greetings! As the leaves change it is clear a new season is upon us (good bye summer, I will miss you, dearly.)  That can only mean one thing:  time for the Contemporary Art Reading and Discussion Group to reconvene!

As always there is a lot going on to take note of.  First a few really great local options:  This Saturday, October 4th, a new show titled Search Portrait opens at Thompson Giroux Gallery, 57 Main street, Chatham 4-6 pm.  This is a group show of different takes on the idea of a portrait that I think you all will find interesting.  If you can’t make the opening the show runs until November 16.  Here is a link to the gallery:

http://www.thompsongirouxgallery.com/Exhibit_Upcoming.cfm

Next, a little farther from home (so let’s carpool!) is a very interesting show at the University of Albany museum called Mary Reid Kelley: Working Objects and Videos

On Tuesday, October 7 at 7pm there will be an artist talk.  I am going, hope you will join me!  The show runs until October 18th. Here is a link to the museum:

 http://www.albany.edu/museum/index.shtml

Now as far as those balloon dogs go, I have included just one article to read, published just a few days ago by Jed Perl from the New York Times review of Books.  If you read just one thing from this blog - read this!  This article is more than a review of Jeff Koons retrospective at the Whitney museum.  It lays out some very interesting ideas on art criticism today, where we are in contemporary art today, and how we got here.  Bring your questions and thoughts to the next meeting - Chatham Public Library, Monday October 6th, 6:30 -7:45 in the teen room.

Image info: 1) Lemur - Margot Curran, 2) Balloon Dog - Jeff Koons, 3) The Syphilis of Sisyphus - Mary Reid Kelley