Tuesday, July 13, 2010

CELLAR DOOR



I have some work in this show that opens tomorrow at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. I'm excited, to say the least. Special thanks to Marie Heilich for asking me to be a part of it.


A group exhibition in The Front Room
featuring work by Alex Da Corte, Trevor Reese and Justin Visnesky.
Guest curated by Marie Heilich.
July 14-August 1

Open Studios Preview Party- Tuesday, July 20th, 6-8PM



Although ordinary by definition and insignificant in meaning, "cellar door" is said to be the most phonetically beautiful combination of words in the English language. Similar to the word pairing, this exhibition explores unglorified objects that transcend their original mundanity once recontextualized. As a result of living in a production and consumption based society in the aftermath of the post-modern era, artists have taken on the role of editor rather than creator.

In a selection of photographs from the series Sometimes You Just Know, Justin Visnesky avoids staging or manipulation of images and instead selects casual moments to document, resonating nostalgia and sincerity. In Trevor Reese’s interactive installation Hope to See You Soon, fruit is moved from a stand to a shelf, while the fruit on the shelf is consumed daily. Alex Da Corte’s hand-crafted banner Forever and Ever mimics a store-bought decoration, aside from the curiously idealistic sentiment. Da Corte’s untitled installation is composed of six plastic swords and one metal sword arranged to lean against the gallery wall in a line.

Similar to the way products are made with a universal purpose for the anonymous individual, the reemployment of objects in an art context can provoke shared experiences thus reactivating the cycle of production and consumption. Through the selection, arrangement and context of the white cube, prefabricated objects are infused with a new poetic purpose readily available for the viewer’s consumption.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

GET OFF MY LAWN



I'm super excited to be a part of the first issue of GET OFF MY LAWN, put together by Geoffrey Ellis (you may know him from SadKids). A lot of great photographers in this one. Get one here!
More info:

Get Off My Lawn is a 48-page photo-zine, edited and published by Geoffrey Ellis. The zine features the work of eleven photographers who are 34 years and older. Get Off My Lawn is a tongue-in-cheek response to the calls for entry, contests and publications that require “emerging photographers” to be somewhere between the ages of 18 and 34.

The zine showcases photographers who are working just as hard as those in the 18-34 range to produce great work.

We can no longer be in your club, but soon enough, you'll be in ours…

The first edition of 222 hand-numbered copies, with 11 different covers will be available July 1, 2010 at the release party, select stores, and online at sadkids.com and geoffreyellis.com (10 bucks each!)

Contributors:
Noah Beil
Geoffrey Ellis
Grant Ernhart
Alan W George
Liz Kuball
Sarah Lacy
Ian Lemmonds
Jennifer Loeber
Dalton Rooney
Andrew Martin Scott
Justin Visnesky