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Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, The Harrisons, Various Small Fires

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison’s show The Harrisons, at Various Small Fires gallery

Most of these works were hung on the wall with even lighting from the fixed gallery ceiling lights. The exceptions were the stand with the large book on it to flip through in the corner, the pentagon compost box with dirt and a shovel in the center of the main room, and the video piece playing in a different room separated by a black curtain. The pieces were spaced evenly, a little too evenly to where it got monotonous and made the work less interesting to me. I liked the dark room to sit in and view the outdated 90′s video piece. I also liked that you just picked up a piece of paper with the images of the works and their information - there was nothing indicated on the wall. I am interested in the environment this creates for the viewer, to not have any info of the specific works on the wall. I will be thinking of alternative ways of what the work info sheet can look like and be with the show rather than simply a sheet of printer paper. I am interested in the interaction between the sculpture on the ground and the works hung on the wall - I will explore that in my own body of work.

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Theaster Gates, But To Be A Poor Race, Regen Projects

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Theaster Gates’s show But To Be A Poor Race, at Regen Projects gallery

This show was also very minimal in terms of the work presented - with all three of the galleries I went to this was the case and I am interested in pursuing this in my show as well (with different materials and kinds of work). This show was also lit evenly from gallery lights above, highlighting each specific work. The spacing of the works was very even but I think it worked with the show. There were three rooms with sculptures and works hung on the wall - and then there was a darker room for the video piece projected on the back of the wall and a darker separate side room with a single sculpture on the ground lit from above. I was most interested in the video piece and the drawings on the wall. There was not enough in the other works (a kind of minimalism I do not want for my show) to visually hold my interest for very long. For my show, I will be thinking more of how to disrupt the standard way of spacing and placing the work in the gallery. Also how this effects where viewers place themselves in the gallery in relation to the work (i.e. sitting down on the floor, looking down on the work from above, looking up and the work from below, looking at the work much more close up etc.)

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Gallery Report - Isa Genzken’s ‘I Love Michael Asher’

http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/installation-views/?exhibition_id=2903&p=21

Genzken’s exhibition at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel closely relates to my art practice in her choice of material and how she handles those material choices. Genzken used everyday, low grade, material often creating it in the installation that would not easily move to other spaces (such as taping a lot of different kinds of tape to the wall with other materials imbedded in it – unless they transported the whole wall or course). This handling of the readymade object, transforming it in someway to make it more than a readymade relates to the work I am making. I am using found objects, but also appropriating them for my own uses and acting on them in some way. Pictured above are my favorite three pieces in the large exhibition. The first is a large wooden desk with a paper and tape collage on part of it. The second is one of three similar pieces (but my favorite was this one with the antenna). The work is made of mixed media, polystyrene, fabric, paper, and antenna. The third is an installation of shopping bags, plastic mannequin parts, tape, clothing, and a chair. The environment these pieces create is something of the aesthetic and language my own work is developing, and I will continue to think about these three pieces in particular going forward in my own work.

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Artist of Influence – Rachel Harrison

Rachel Harrison’s work is closely related to mine in our use of the found object as a point of instigation, using both 2D and 3D elements in our installations. There is a realm of imagery and object that Harrison draws on to create her own language of expressing her work through; I am influenced by her success in pulling together these very different images and objects. Our work relates on this point of bringing together improbably parings, especially with pop icon imagery. Harrison’s work is loud in the sense of color, image, scale and such but functions successfully and not in an overly shock and awe manner. I am very interested in how she accomplishes this and will continue to study and follow her work to further explore this point.

https://news.artnet.com/market/rachel-harrison-donald-trump-greene-naftali-509411

This is an Artnet article about Harrison’s ‘Situation’ that opened at Green Naftali this past June. While this was an art ‘show’, it was called a ‘situation’ – and rightly so. This situation by Harrison featured several Trump piñatas hung up on strings alongside work that had previously been vandalized at another show. A man shot several of her works (which now have bullet holes in them) and defaced some of her work with black paint, killing himself afterwards. This violent history associated with the work is mimicked in the Trump piñatas, which are a ritualistic object to be beaten and destroyed. Her work deals with these various pop icons, pairing them together with histories of their own in order to say something about the current violence, turmoil, and death in the social climate, particularly as it relates to (now President elect Trump).

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The purpose of a critique is to evaluate which elements of an artist’s work are functioning successfully and which are not – giving reasons why. The most helpful critique conversation was during studio visits with professors, but aside from that I found the small group conversations helpful in better understanding how my work was functioning and discussing potential ideas for what was successful/unsuccessful in the work.

The most challenging critique session was my main critique with the senior seminar class towards the beginning/middle of the semester. It was difficult to steer the conversation into helpful territory, I think mainly because the critique was entirely too early and there was not a full enough sense of my work to display.

The role of the artist in a critique is really up to them on how they want to steer the conversation – if they have specific questions are want a cold read of the work. I think having both are helpful. The role of the viewer is to honestly engage with the work and give feedback on why the work is/isn’t successful – what is working and what isn’t, and then tease out possibilities. It is usually most helpful when the critique ends in a dialogue between the artist and the viewer so that the critique can be fruitful.

I am not sure if I was generous in all the critiques – I find that I only speak up and say something if the work really affects me. If something about the work is really interesting or exciting to me I will want to talk about it and if there is something really bothering me about the work I will want to talk about it – but I am not the best at diligently trying to read everyone’s work, and so some critiques I didn’t say much.

To me, making art in a community means interacting with the people around you and having this inform your art work – whether it’s collaborating between artists, talking through ideas, or just engaging in what another person is doing. Artwork made by other artist’s helps stimulate my own work through my own encounter with it – I either find something interesting about it and that incites ideas in my own work or I don’t like something about someone else’s work and I figure out why and that still informs my own work. I can take better advantage of the built in art community at Biola by being present with who is around me and engaging to promote growth, ideas and stronger work.

#critiquereflection3