With the show opening tomorrow, artdc.com has posted the online catalog of the exhibition.
http://artdc.com/2011/02/23/material-world/
I'm extremely happy with how the catalog came out. We have some installation views along with statements from each artist and a short essay explaining the concept behind the show and how each artist fits the concept.
Even if I didn't have anything to do with the show, I certainly wouldn't want to miss it. We have work some of the area's finest artists included. I look forward to seeing everyone.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Material World is Up
Today, I met the artists at the gallery to hang the show. There are often unforeseen issues when you get to the actual point of hanging that sometimes require a last minute change which was the case today. We moved Michael Janis to a different wall because the movable wall was not going to allow enough space for the work. There is such depth to his pieces that viewers need to look from the sides as well as straight on. I knew the gallery was making some changes to the back room so I did not have a set plan for that area but the changes that were made did not effect the linear dimensions of hanging space but did allow for larger work than before. It turns out that we had just the right amount of art work with the addition of a piece by Peter Gordon which is part of the gallery's permanent collection. Here are some images of the installation.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
In the Home Stretch
Serving as curator for Material World has been a rewarding experience. It's been close to twenty years since I've put a show like this together. Some things haven't changed much. Artists are typically eager to have their work shown, especially in a truly professional space alongside other quality artists. What has changed is the abundance of talent available and the speed of communication.
The DC area has a wealth of gifted artists working in very diverse ways. Given the title and theme of the show, I specifically sought to include artists working with different media who were not using standard techniques. With fragmentation of the area scene a common complaint, I was also interested showing artists of different generations who are at various points in their careers, even attempting to pull artists working in different parts of the region together. In meeting with the artists, I found that each was familiar with nearly all of the others in the show and some had actually worked together on projects. Perhaps the scene is not so fragmented after all.
The speed of communication actually presented challenges and this is the area in which I learned the most. It all comes down to timing. With the proliferation of art websites and the influence of blogs, much information needs to be held until very close to the event. Print media still requires plenty of lead-time. Hopefully we have navigated this well and there will be a strong turnout.
The DC area has a wealth of gifted artists working in very diverse ways. Given the title and theme of the show, I specifically sought to include artists working with different media who were not using standard techniques. With fragmentation of the area scene a common complaint, I was also interested showing artists of different generations who are at various points in their careers, even attempting to pull artists working in different parts of the region together. In meeting with the artists, I found that each was familiar with nearly all of the others in the show and some had actually worked together on projects. Perhaps the scene is not so fragmented after all.
The speed of communication actually presented challenges and this is the area in which I learned the most. It all comes down to timing. With the proliferation of art websites and the influence of blogs, much information needs to be held until very close to the event. Print media still requires plenty of lead-time. Hopefully we have navigated this well and there will be a strong turnout.
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