CLR Hello, I am a Clarification.
MK Hello, I am a Matt Kalasky.
CLR What was the objective of your recent post?
The air is tropic and tactile, surrounding me like a heavy wool poncho, as I ascend the stairs of the 319 North 11th Street building for my August First-Friday pilgrimage. In a scene that has become totemic of the Philadelphia art experience, the second floor was already engorged like a college house party. It is an environment ideal for socializing–not ideal for looking. So as a habit I am actively trying to nurture, I made my visit brief and opted to return the following Sunday to stroll the hall, observe the art, and chat idly with gallery sitters. What follows are some brief words for the second floor exhibitions.
Sometimes I have fixed feelings when artists appropriate the dear totems of mass culture. This anxiety can be characterized by the deep valley between “Sports Art” and art about sports. One appreciated by people who love sports and the other appreciated by people who love the cultural and sociological tectonics of sports.
The trouble with art scenes generally and “D.I.Y.” ones specifically is that they often operate like insidious inside jokes. Employing insular aesthetic codes and referring ever more circularly to exclusive themes, small scenes can have the tendency to form impermeable outside lines. When this is the case, the infinitely large group of outsiders (i.e. the rest of the world) has little to respond with. Those not in the know can resort to indifference or avoidance at best and repulsion or opposition at worst. The tragedy of this common phenomenon is that the the protective stylistic coating of any scene almost always obstructs access to a core group of artists passionately hell-bent on strengthening their connections to other people. One of the pins currently for sale on the 1026 website speaks to space’s efforts to battle the off-putting aura around (A)rt and art scenes. It reads….
“Art is a smile that gives you a hug”
All galleries have their audience but 1026 advertises their barriers as pretty permeable. Still, I was a bit wary as I rang the bell and ascended the stairs. At first glance, “Phoning It In From Yogyakarta” fit my expectations. The title thrown up on the wall in black spray paint and the works’ initial graphic impact spoke a vernacular of cool with which I’ve never been fully fluent.
Over spring break the Tyler School of Art’s 2012 MFA candidates were showcased in an exhibition of their own design. BANG was a project independently conceived, organized, funded, and executed by the same full time graduate students. Its purpose was to give a comprehensive overview of the school’s MFA program and provide a preview of the individual thesis exhibitions that will be running on a weekly rotation starting March 21st at Temple Galleries.
By default, BANG had the curatorial cohesion of a Brunette Binnienal or an exhibition of painters who happened to be named Tim, or a showcase of artists under 32. Any linkage between John Crowe’s crooning 16mm transfers and Young Do Jeong’s aviary abstract canvas is all from you…
