#gregory ito

[gregitooo]

Cover of the new issue of SFAQ # 14, image by Ryan McGinley.

Made in San Francisco by Greg Ito and Andrew McClintock.

Mmmmmmm

[atatart]

There is no telling what. What?

By Eric Dyer

Gregory Ito had three pieces on display at the Truesilver Gallery in San Francisco, created during a month long residency spent in the Villyards’ home, for the show There is no telling what (1) (2). During this time, Ito was able to excavate and delve through the couple’s personal belongings, using the objects he found to create his work. (3)

It seemed I arrived a little early and Ito was sitting on the floor setting up She’s Gifted, which appears to be the deconstruction of a well wrapped present — a Tiffany’s box elevated on high teetering on top of a similarly-colored long piece of wood,  and anchored by a small glass jar of cherries. The wrapping paper hanging on the wall seems ready to envelop the individual items. The title, like many of Ito’s work, is a clever and humorous play on words; a talented person may get an interesting present.

Resting on the floor in the center of the space is Bed Bath and Beyond, a nod to the store which sells generic comfort items, although their glassware is still in need of a “bong section.”

There is this bong, with ice melting and water in it, ready to go, hopefully stable enough to sit on this yoga mat and not tip and crack. Some people wonder if the ice is real or not (4). On the other end of the mat sat a hand-held massager, waiting to be turned on, but if left going could be the demise of the bong. The three objects seem prepared for a daily routine and even in their state of usefulness they seem the most stable and balanced of the three works in the show (5). The ice and water adds another layer of interest to the work for me as they were the only natural elements in the piece. In my opinion, the ice and water in this bong made the piece whole. They are both the key items which show that this is already prepared, essentially waiting to be loaded and used, but also activate both the yoga mat and the hand-held massager as ready to be used items.

:o (JENGA!) consists of a regular table, a Jenga tower, set up ready to play, and a ball. This table has a quirky little top that somewhat mimics the pattern of the Jenga stack (6). Under one leg of the table is a ball. This ball sets the table off balance and causes the Jenga stack to look as if it’s sliding off and if there was an earthquake this game would easily end in one move. The straining lean makes me fearful, and I put an invisible barrier between me and the work.  I feel like I’m being taunted, and I want to begin the game.

The work could be interpreted as an idea of the homeowners (a portrait), or a reflection of the artist (their personality, their aesthetic), however I think there are more revealing stories hidden within these objects than the connection they hold with their owner. They may be items from their home, but their commonality makes them relatable to a wider audience. The revealing part of these objects is the connections they make with other people in their general use. Gifts are a way of showing affection; smoking can bring people together, just like giving a massage or joining a room in an intense hour of stretching, much like crushing your friends and enemies in a game of Jenga. For me these objects are about us, but I guess there is no telling what.

There is no telling what was open from March 9th to April 28th 2013 at the Truesilver Gallery.

http://gregoryito.com/

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  (1) Truesilver Gallery is a store front gallery in the home of Charlie and Heather Holt Villyard. The gallery is approximately 1200 square feet and its mission is to “bring new opportunities and audiences for emerging artists while engaging the residents of Noe Valley in contemporary art.”

(2) Charlie Villyard does some pretty awesome web design and event photography. Heather Holt Villyard is currently the director of ArtSpan and serves as the Chair of the SECA 50th Anniversary on the SECA Council at SFMOMA. She sometimes makes art as well!

(3) I believe there is no telling what these objects histories are. They are common enough to be in anyone’s house — so the viewer is able to project their own identity and relationship with the object onto their histories. However the objects are already owned, and we are unable to tell what sentimental value they may hold to their owners, unless we know them personally we can only project what we believe.

(4) This made me question why people were focusing on whether or not the ice was artificial, instead of the objects and the overall composition. 

Interestingly enough in an interview with Art-Rated, Ito said, during an opening of his work at the Eleanor Harwood Gallery, that someone asked if his work A Bed Time Tale, which had a nightstand with a glass of water on it, did indeed have water in the glass or if it was done in resin. Ito responded “It is water. I didn't feel obligated to imitate the water. It is more charged when it is in its true form.  I want people to connect with the collaboration of the elements within the piece.” 

Also, in full disclosure I was guilty of being one of those people wondering if the ice was real or not, but discovered it was indeed H2O slowly moving from 273.15K to 293K after staring at it for a while and probably asking Greg after drinking a few beers. I think it’s remarkable that we are beginning to expect artificial objects to replace natural ones.

(5) Order of use: Yoga, Bong, Massage IMO.

(6) Each Jenga block is three times as long as its width and one fifth as thick as its length. The initial tower has eighteen levels, fifty four total wooden blocks, with three blocks placed adjacent to each other along their long side and perpendicular to the previous level. Essentially just make sure that each level doesn't stack in the same direction as the level directly under or above it, and make sure the tower you’re stacking only has 4 sides.

[swarmgallery-blog]

Studio Visit: Greg Ito

Preamble: If I were being brutally honest with myself about running an art gallery business, I would admit that the studio visits, time with the artists to establish and develop critique and in-depth discourse about the work and production of an exhibit are all compromised by the daily details of keeping the doors open. I'm not saying having a financial drive is problematic for art galleries. It's as necessary as any other business. I'm just saying as a sole proprietor, I had to prioritize the more pragmatic aspects of running the gallery over the ones that inspired me to open the gallery in the first place. In an ideal situation, like having a co-director or two, one would be able to balance the creative and curatorial needs of working with artists and developing programs with the administrative needs of the business. One thing I very much look forward to in my post-brick and mortar era is more studio visits and dialogue with artists about, yep, you guessed it, art.

...

Michael and I visited Greg Ito at his San Francisco live/work space. Greg is an SFAI grad, former owner/director/co-operator of Ever Gold Gallery (with Andrew McClintock), presently the Co-Founder and Asst Editor of SFAQ,  and full-time artist. He was proud to give us the tour of his epic self-fabricated space, and share recent exploits in his own practice. 

After the tour we reviewed Greg's past projects and talked about the trajectory of his work. For someone so ensconced in the art world, Greg was refreshingly casual about discussing his art. He obviously takes his practice very seriously, but nothing was too precious. Packed with ideas and the wherewithall to fabricate pretty much anything he wants, Greg talked for over an hour about the arc of this process, with some interspersed questions and comments from us. Greg definitely developes his relationship to themes, and then arranges objects (he refers to them as "ready-mades") along the lines of these themes. There is a evident sense of humor in his arrangements but it's not over the top. I laughed out loud with one particular piece, but that was because it symbolically represented a way I feel when trying to relax. "Yep," I thought, "that is pretty much it." The piece was a semi-inflated beach ball strangled with a cord around its midsection and a head-scratcher on one end.

Greg also makes his objects interchangeable. He has a staging area in his studio where he creates installations and moves things around as he sees necessary. It's like his own play space. Conceptually, Greg is working with ideas of our connection to the natural world, with somewhat of a spiritual slant (what moves us inside to seek this connection?), along with ideas around leisure time (what do we do with it?). Some of the second tier themes focus on asinine aspects of our human rituals around vacation (spray tanning before going on a tropical trip, for example). Another sub-theme Greg works with is accessibility. Perhaps not coincidentally, Greg is highly concerned with how his work is received. He places a high value on people understanding what he's trying to say without too many conceptual hoops to jump through. He wants his viewer to "get" it. He showed us some images from a solo exhibition at Eleanor Harwood Gallery (November 2012) where he said this was successful. Greg's upcoming projects are definitely going to be worth a visit. They are a development of the work he has already done, bringing in new ideas of objecthood, space, and an immersive experience for the viewer. I'm excited. Hope you are too. Stay tuned at gregoryito.com.

[forgetgood]

FORGETGOOD'S birthday issue is here! Big thanks to everyone who participated! This issue includes: Gregory Ito, Sean Pearson, Lauren Clay, Brian Michael Dunn, Valerie Brennan, Evan Nesbit, Robert Hurlburt, Jake Kent, Kiki Hunt and featuring Clare Grill.