On Seeing: The Purpose Paradox
What exactly does it mean to look at--to really see--art? What questions do we ask ourselves and how do we accept and then expand on our initial response to shift into a place where seeing becomes a dialogue, a question and answer session with each new work?
The nine artists in this exhibition transform and transfigure the stuff of everyday life--Popsicle sticks and paper strips, soccer balls and patrol uniforms, grocery bags and vintage clothing, traffic lights and fingerprints--into something new that reverberates with the visual, conceptual, and psychological power inherent in a shift in perspective.
These artists approach their practices through lenses that range from philosophical to wry, physical to visual, socio-political to psycho-social. But each work invites reconsideration, of the objects and materials that surround us and our presumed relationships to these objects, as well as to space and place, memory and reverie, medication, immigration, time.
I think of looking at art as conversing with an inanimate object, not just any object but an essentially purposeless one. It is just this purposelessness that makes art so compelling, and I suppose for some, infuriating or confusing. As soon as a thing gains a function--to stop a car or clothe a body--it's form is tied to that function. But when its function is art, the thing has no goal beyond itself and the responses it elicits. By starting from something with an ostensible purpose, these artists flip functionality on its head.
Whether you approach this show with skepticism or enthusiasm, a wealth of experience or none, I invite you to consider each image slowly, for more than the average few-second glance. Explore the possibilities that lie inside and beyond your first look. You don't even have to leave your home or office. Sit back, relax, and reflect--let the conversation commence.
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China Adams
Alpine Meadow, 2008 Trader Joe's paper shopping bags, cotton turtleneck, acrylic varnish (Dress displayed on canvas and metal dress form) 65 ¼" x 27" x 23" Image courtesy of Steve Turner Contemporary Gallery, Los Angeles |
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"On Seeing" is an exhibition series on the Huffington Post curated by Annie Buckley. It includes emerging and established artists from around the globe. The goal is explore the depth of how we see and reflect on art while expanding the range of ways to view art.
Artists included in The Purpose Paradox: China Adams, Felipe Barbosa, Annetta Kapon, Katarina Wong, Gina Osterloh, Heidi Schwegler, Kate Harding, Katherine Gray, and Margarita Cabrera.
"On Seeing" is not a commercial exhibition series. Any commercial interest should be directed to the link in the caption. Should sales arise from this series, each participating artist and gallerist has been invited to donate 10 % of the proceeds to REENCONTRO, a local group helping AIDS orphans in Mozambique.
I have no issue with the selection of artists; they are representative of the contemporary market. As emerging artists, it is wonderful exposure being on the Huffington Post,and hopefully leads to the curious to seek out the art and really 'see' the work.
Of small note, art can be discussed and written about using language devoid of philosophical poetics, as it can also be analyzed without malice. In the presentation of contemporary art, it is assumed that it is art with a capital 'A'...reality shows that most art does not pass the test of time, but ends up in an attic to be forgotten. When looking in the galleries, take your humor and curiosity with you, and leave presumption at home. It will make the experience far more enjoyable.
For the other 99.999% of people, who know for a fact that good art is about painting and sculpting real things-with varying degrees of mastery, and, who have an aesthetic sense that takes a natural and quite healthy offense to the glorification of ugliness or primitivist lack of skill-go to www.artrenewal.com and revel in the beauty of great art.
Am I digressing? Ah yes, the curvilinear reflects also a link between computer-based graphics, post chaos mathematics and the New Deco of Postmodernity which has already appeared in many majestic buildings and sculptures. And painting. But not yet in textiles. Textiles are so yesterday.
Thanks for your piece and photos.
This is a Pilgrim's Progress. Beware of by-ways. Avoid attaching significance to anything sado-masochist. Emo ain't cute. Tattoos are crap. Piercing is BS. The great seducers of the interregnum draw you into nihilism. No purpose, no meaning.