THE GALLERIST
RI ART ARCHIVE PROJECT
SPECIAL FEATURE: MAAAAW!
What Artists should know about Galleries,
Interview with Holly Gaboriault about the
Clarity Haynes reflects on her involve-
Collectors + Representation » p. 40
third series on women artists » p. 48
ment with a women’s art collective » p. 44
COLLECT art + design for the curated lifestyle SUMMER 2014 | VOLUME III
JOHN O’REILLY: NEW WORKS 2010 - 2014 AT MILLER YEZERSKI GALLERY BY ZACH HORN
Creation of a Category: The Autonomy oF THE ART OBJECT BY ALISON WILLIAMS
MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY: ELEANOR ANTIN’s “SELVES” AT ICA/BOSTON BY NATE RISTEEN
Clarity Haynes, Radical Acceptance, oil on linen, 22” x 28”
Art League Rhode Island Annual Artist Members’ Exhibition
V i s i t , V i e w, Co l l e c t
September 5 - October 3, 2014
Attleboro Arts Museum 86 Park Street, Attleboro, MA 02703 www.attleboroar tsmuseum.org
Opening Reception: Wed, Sept 10, 7 - 9 pm Gallery Talk: Morris Nathanson, Sat, Sept 20, 2 - 4 pm Hours: Tues - Sat, 10 am - 4 pm
office@Ar tLeagueRI.org | w w w. Ar tLeagueRI.org
CONTEMPORY ART IN THE CREATIVE CAPITAL
TOBY BARNES CALEB CAIN MARCUS JAMEY MORRILL PAUL MYODA RODRIGO NAVA HAO NI QUINTÍN RIVERA TORO DIEGO RODRIGUEZ-WARNER BRADLEY WESTER ANDREW PAUL WOOLBRIGHT
60 VALLEY ST #5 | PROVIDENCE, RI 02909 w w w. y e l l o w p e r i l g a l l e r y. c o m
Raquel Paiewonsky: Enlace (2012) photographic print on acrylic, 34” x 42”
KATHRYN PARKER ALMANAS JENNIFER AVERY JOAN BACKES NAOMI CAMPBELL RUTH DEALY RAQUEL PAIEWONSKY ANABEL VÁZQUEZ RODRÍGUEZ GARCIA SINCLAIR NAFIS WHITE
CONTENT JOHN O’REILLY: NEW WORKS 2010 - 2014 AT MILLER YEZERSKI GALLERY BY ZACH HORN At first, the exhibition seems ponderous: sepia-toned collages of art prints and vintage snapshots that, at second glance, hide lots of bare skin. If O’Reilly’s predilection is to slap a bunch of naked men onto classic etchings, we should indulge him.
12
Creation of a Category: The Autonomy of THE Art Object BY ALISON WILLIAMS Better writers than I have discussed Marcel Duchamp’s seminal piece, Urinal, 1917, but to not discuss it here would be remiss. As the most famous readymade, it stands to symbolize the beginning of the art Object as separate from sculpture or painting, assemblage or installation.
18 26
MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY: ELEANOR ANTIN’s “SELVES”
32
MAAAAW! My Involvement with Women’s Art CollectiveS
AT ICA/BOSTON BY NATE RISTEEN
BY CLARITY HAYNES
Eleanor Antin’s work at the ICA has the scope of a retrospective,
When I was in college in Philadelphia, I started my first women’s art
spanning decades and encompassing everything from painting and
collective. It was called AYWAKE – Alliance of Young Women Artists
sculpture to video and photography.
Kreating Empowerment.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 5
40
48
IN SEARCH OF GALLERIES, COLLECTORS AND REPRESENTATION
RI ART ARCHIVE PROJECT: FOCUS ON WOMEN ARTISTS
THE GALLERIST BY VANPHOUTHON SOUVANNASANE
INTERVIEW WITH HOLLY GABORIAUT BY ROBERT P. STACK
Since opening four years ago, we are still learning about the reality
COLLECT Editor-in-Chief Robert P. Stack interviews Curator / Produc-
of running a commercial art business and the many misconceptions
er / Director Holly Gaboriault about the recently completed third se-
along the way.
ries of the RI ART ARCHIVE PROJECT, which focuses on women artists.
50
THE BAR-GIRL
BY SARA BACKER Sara Backer, author of the novel AMERICAN FUJI, reflects on love at first look and the desire to be a bar girl after seeing A Bar at the Folies-Bergères during a painting reproduction sale in the bargain basement of a Worcester department store.
52
CALENDAR
Providence, Boston, New York City and beyond, as curated by the Editors of COLLECT from submissions by readers
6 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
EDITOR’S LETTER Sometimes in life the most radically subversive thing you can do
Recounting her experiences establishing women’s art collectives,
is just simply be yourself. No proclamations. No manifestos. Often
Clarity Haynes points out that nobody really feels the need to la-
you don’t even know you are being radical until someone points
bel anything “straight white male art”, reminding us all that simply
out to you that just you being you is radical. Sometimes it’s pointed
missing one piece of that trifecta of establishment labels us radical
out in order to silence you or make you stumble via self-conscious-
by default.
ness. Sometimes it says more about the other person’s limited world view than it does about your intentions. Often it is just about
Embracing this differentness can be empowering, so if you’re go-
you taking matters into your own hands because if you don’t, then
ing to take over the art world, you might as well be honest about it
who will.
upfront and name your gallery Yellow Peril.
In the case of John O’Reilly this takes on an almost literal bravado. One can almost imagine a bored 1960s teen strolling through a gallery of old world masters wondering what it all has to do with today, and then impulsively ripping pages from a physique magazine and pasting them on the works, instantly making them more
ROBERT P. STACK
relatable.
Editor-in-Chief
More quietly, the evolution of the object in art over time has been almost Darwinian. In her staged recreations of historic events, Eleanor Antin does nothing to hide her own hand in interpreting the scenes rather than duplicating them, apologetically celebrating the raconteur’s slant in information sharing.
COLLECT COLLECT is a quarterly limited edition magazine that promotes art
Publisher: VANPHOUTHON SOUVANNASANE
and design for the curated lifestyle. Each issue of COLLECT fea-
Editor-in-Chief: ROBERT PATRICK STACK
tures interviews with artists, reviews of art exhibitions and events,
Managing Editor: NATE RISTEEN
and special columns exploring various topics relevant to the art world. 250 copies of COLLECT are printed each quarter. Subscrip-
COLLECT
tions available upon request.
60 Valley Street #5 Providence, RI 02909
COVER: Clarity Haynes, Radical Acceptance, oil on linen, 22” x 28”
+1 401 861 1535 Advertising + General Inquiries: info@collect-magazine.com
8 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
CURATORS: ROBERT P. STACK & VANPHOUTHON SOUVANNASANE of YELLOW PERIL GALLERY featuring lectures & special events
Antonia Wright, Wet Tongue on the Dusty Floor 2
Jamey Morrill, Untitled
S E P T E M B E R
2 6
-
N O V E M B E R
1 6,
2 0 1 4
COLLECTORS lll: DISCERNING EYES
Hao Ni, Smoke Sculpture
New Bedford Art Museum/ ArtWorks! 608 Pleasant Street New Bedford, MA 02740 508.961.3072 newbedfordartmuseum.org
www.headmastermagazine.com Drasko Bogdanovic for Issue No. 5
CONTRIBUTORS SARA BACKER is author of the novel AMERICAN FUJI, has poems coming out in A cappella Zoo, The Rialto, Arc, Gargoyle, Carve and many more. For links to her poems online, visit www.sarabacker.com.
CLARITY HAYNES is an artist, writer and educator living in New York City. She teaches drawing at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and painting at Adelphi University. To find out more about her work, visit www.clarityhaynes.com.
ZACH HORN is an artist and teacher at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He lives and works in Dorchester, MA.
NATE RISTEEN is an artist, writer and teacher at The University of New Hampshire and The New Hampshire Institute of Art. Before his role as Managing Editor of COLLECT, Risteen was the primary writer for BostonArtReview, a blog about art in greater Boston.
ALISON WILLIAMS was born in New Zealand and now lives in New Hampshire and is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Williams received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Boston where she was awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. Alison’s work is in many private and public collections including the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, MA, Portland Museum of Art, ME, and Smith College of Art, MA.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 11
JOHN O’REILLY: NEW WORKS 2010 - 2014 AT MILLER YEZERSKI GALLERY BY ZACH HORN John O’Reilly’s (b. 1930) new show at Miller Yezerski Gallery
ly leaves me with the single image of the youth, the overt
is witty, irreverent and dark. At first, the exhibition seems
come-on, and my own subjective interpretation.
ponderous: sepia-toned collages of art prints and vintage snapshots that, at second glance, hide lots of bare skin. If
Not all of O’Reilly’s pieces have that same melting quality
O’Reilly’s predilection is to slap a bunch of naked men onto
as No. 110 Dutch Set. In some collages, he seems intent on
classic etchings, we should indulge him.
making the images purposefully disjointed. Bodies almost
line up, but don’t. Tabs of masking tape linger. The most
At their best, O’Reilly’s collages have a certain elegance. In
discordant work is Eclipse, an odd mashup of print and out-
No. 110 Dutch Set, O’Reilly grafts a single black and white
of-left-field Matisse-ian cut out figures in mat board (with
photograph onto a Paul Bril (Belgian, 1554-1626) reproduc-
a nude pasted in the background for good measure). In
tion. One large tree effortlessly cuts across both the photo
Eclipse (along with Four Figures and Self-Portraits), O’Reilly
and the print. A shirtless young man, plucked from a 1950’s
emphasizes his process over his subject matter. Perhaps it’s
homoerotic summer camp, stares out at the viewer inviting-
a posture?
ly, while Bril’s etched figure lounges off to the left. No. 110 Dutch Set has the same ruptured quality of many of O’Reil-
If the works are jauntily constructed then O’Reilly can’t be
ly’s collages, seemingly banal, bucolic scenes invaded by
called fussy. Or, more importantly, he can’t be called a Sur-
nude (or in this case, half nude) men. Pastoral and quaint
realist. This attitude may be especially important to O’Reilly,
become sexualized. What is impressive about O’Reilly’s
since collaging varied source material is a Surrealist staple,
technique is that it’s easy to forget about it. The image is so
as evidenced by Max Ernst’s series of masterpiece novels,
seamless that I don’t really get caught up in the postmod-
starting in 1922 with Les Malheurs Des Immortels (written by
ern reconceptualization of Paul Bril, let alone whether or not
Paul Eluard). A little bit of abruptness lets O’Reilly escape
O’Reilly did a good job with the PVA (he did). Instead, O’Reil-
that classification and its hyper-attention to craft, the same
John O’Reilly: No. 110 Dutch Set (Courtesy Miller Yezerski Gallery)
12 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 13
John O’Reilly: Artist and Model (Courtesy Miller Yezerski Gallery)
way that expressionistic mark making might for a psycho-
some full frontal into it. Also, there is a clear reference to the
logical figurative painter like Dana Schutz. Still, I don’t really
classical idea about the human body and its historic double
get why O’Reilly cares. His subject matter is provocative and
standard about female versus male nudity.
hilarious. So why dilute that with moments of abstraction that frankly don’t do much, at least for me?
O’Reilly has a legitimate sense of humor. He brilliantly left behind some of the original titles on the etchings, such as
I don’t want my critique to distract from the fact that this
The Holy Family, With The Curtain, 1646 on a grayscale Rem-
exhibition is mostly excellent. O’Reilly uses his diverse
brandt reproduction. Though, in this case, O’Reilly’s Holy
selection of sources, including some very beautiful old
Family is two naked boys and a cat. In Standing Nude, he
prints, in surprising juxtapositions. And, he is never senti-
takes Rembrandt’s A Scholar Seated In An Interior With A
mental. Cezanne, Rembrandt, and Durer are scraps to be
Winding Stair and pushes a stretching man’s privates right
sliced, photographic bodies are stock to be chopped, just
up against the scholar’s neck. O’Reilly clearly loves the mas-
paper to be pasted. The easier collages use an “insert nudi-
ters, but he has no shame in tea bagging them.
ty here” formula, such as Two Nudes, Standing Nude, Artist
and Model, and Two Models. Not to knock O’Reilly; there is
No. XXXII Claude Series, No. XI Claude Series, and No. XIII
something funny about taking a Rembrandt and dropping
Claude Series deviate from the insert nudity M.O. While they
14 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
O’REILLY USEs his diverse selection of sources, including some very beautiful old prints, in surprising juxtapositions. are less “loaded” than some of the explicitly sexual examples, these collages are infinitely more mysterious. These pieces are also more manipulated. Body parts are carefully excised and superimposed on what I have to assume are reproductions of Claude Gellee’s (Lorrain’s) ink drawings. As an aside, the only sure background I could confirm was No. XI Claude Series, which incorporates Lorrain’s Rocky Stream with An Artist Seated on the Left, 1635. It will take a better Googler than me to find the others. In the Claude Series, O’Reilly doesn’t rely on the simplicity of No. 110 Dutch Series, nor does he intentionally disrupt the integrity of the image, as in Eclipse. Instead he lets the material and scale changes happen naturally, so that Lorrain’s sweepingly romantic landscapes become playgrounds for giants. In No. XXXII, for example, two enormous feet drop down from the sky to play footsie in Lorrain’s Italianate forest. In No. XI, two godlike hands grasp boulders as if fashioning the hillside out of modeling clay. These images are both strange and playful. The beauty of John O’Reilly’s work is that he is continuously defying expectations, like a boxer setting up his right hook with a series of jabs. O’Reilly hits us with frivolity, with pubic hair and genitalia, and all of sudden, as in the Claude Series (or the equally moving Self Portrait (1992) and Ark), he wallops us with sincerity. It’s wonderful to find a powerful
John O’Reilly: Four Figures (Courtesy Miller Yezerski Gallery)
exhibition that is so visually rich, so gracefully done, and so conceptually challenging. I’m looking forward to seeing more of his work. Zach Horn is an artist and teacher at the University of Massachusetts “New Works 2010 -2014” by John O’Reilly was on view at Miller Yezer-
Boston. He lives and works in Dorchester, MA.
ski Gallery (milleryezerskigallery.com) from April 18 - May 20, 2014.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 15
Isa Genzken: Empire/Vampire III, 9 (2004) metal, wood, plastic, fabric, nuts, shell, paper, lacquer, 230 x 47 x 86 cm (Courtesy Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne)
“Every time I would show them to people, some would say they’re paintings, others called them sculptures.” — Robert Rauschenberg, New York Times, December 2005
18 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Creation of a Category: The Autonomy of THE Art Object
BY ALISON WILLIAMS
Better writers than I have discussed Marcel Duchamp’s seminal
was possible, should be based on a single form that presented it-
piece, Urinal, 1917, but to not discuss it here would be remiss. As
self to the viewer all at once. Many artists, both working and writ-
the most famous readymade, it stands to symbolize the beginning
ing theory during the years of Minimalism, proposed that the con-
of the art Object as separate from sculpture or painting, assem-
struction of the Object should not involve varied surfaces or the
blage or installation. Before this piece artists had often not had
balance of different compositional elements. They acknowledged
a hand in actually making the work that they designed, but this
that it should instead appear as if it were industrially manufac-
piece’s fame comes because Duchamp didn’t design it either, rath-
tured and clearly not appear as unique or handmade. This echoes
er he took an already existing object and designated it as art. As
the Duchampian readymade in that the Minimalist Object, like
such, this piece begins the category of the art Object.
Duchamp’s readymades, had literal presence; the materials used were not intended to symbolize anything else. Yet the Minimalists
Since then the art Object has transformed itself from artist to artist
expand on this ideal as the industrial materials they used were,
and era to era, but the definition of the Object as being distinct,
unlike Duchamp’s readymades, transformed by application of col-
and therefore separate from, painting or sculpture wasn’t made
or and shape. Neither color nor form, however, was supposed to
until Minimalism. Donald Judd in his essay “Specific Objects” de-
be used to express feeling or mood, but was to be used instead to
fined the art Object as being “related closely to one or the other”
simply delineate space. Judd especially spoke to the fact that the
(painting or sculpture) yet necessarily different from both. He stat-
object’s color and form should not make a reference to any feeling,
ed that the interest in making objects came directly from a disin-
thing or idea outside of itself. This practice brought the material of
terest in making sculpture or painting, a disinterest in, as he said,
the Object to the forefront. Both the materials and the complet-
“doing it again.” In addition, today the art object is also seen as
ed Object had a simplicity, immediacy, severity and gravity that
separate from installation art. Unlike installations, art Objects do
echoed the tenets of Minimalism.
not define or transform the space in which they are contained, they instead define and transform painting, sculpture and themselves.
Although the materials that the contemporary Object are made
That the identity of such objects is often in question and that they
from, as well as the form they take, may differ from the Minimalist
avoid easy association with traditional and familiar art conven-
Object, the idea that the viewer is being asked to notice the ma-
tions is a part of their value. Today the autonomy of the art Object
teriality of the Object is the same. Today the Object is also often
is firmly established.
made from readymade materials. However, although these materials may be ordinary and mass-produced, as were the industrial
During Minimalism, it was believed that the Object, as much as it
materials that the Minimalists used, they are, in contrast to those
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 19
materials (such as steel) often consciously or unconsciously in-
more fully informed or confused...whatever the emotion, it is cer-
significant, trivial or impermanent. As with the Minimalist Object,
tainly never complacency.
we are not asked to consider these materials for what they represent; they are not made to look like something else. We are in-
In their jumbled haphazard aesthetic, as well as their intent to
stead asked to consider these materials for what they are, be that
disrupt, Lanyon’s constructions seem closely related to the aes-
plastic or paper, opaque or transparent, colorful or colorless. They
thetic of the contemporary Objects of Isa Genzken. Although Isa
are, like the materials of the Minimalist Object, defiantly present,
Genzken’s later work is categorized as close to sculpture and has
and this presence frequently and obdurately stops us from seeing
been discussed as making a direct comment on sculpture, I be-
anything figurative or narrative about the work. These contempo-
lieve Genzken’s Objects are also closely related to Lanyon’s Ob-
rary Objects are also often composed using many varied materials.
jects in material, method of construction, and intent. Both Lanyon
The materials are jumbled, hung or strung together in seemingly
and Genzken use materials they have at hand, both use layered,
random ways and this collection of materials often resembles the
transparent, reflective and opaque materials to disrupt the viewer.
marks of an abstract expressionist painting. With the contempo-
While Lanyon desired disruption as a means of creating abstrac-
rary Object we are taken somewhere between, as well as beyond,
tion, Genzken creates disruptions to call into question not only the
the readymade, Minimalist and abstract Object.
environment but also the formalist aspects of art making. When one sees either of these artist’s Objects, there is a sensation that
Starting with Duchamp and proceeding to today, what the art
they came into being because of the materials they are made of.
world has found is that the conventions that define and limit art
One gets the sense from both that they are working at speed to
making can be explored and expanded to a place where an art-
capture a “vision” and present a view that is rapidly slipping from
work stops being an artwork and turns into an arbitrary object. It
them even as they work. One can perhaps see in their work the ur-
is in the space and between these limits that Peter Lanyon, Anne
gency and yet the contradictory stillness of a moment caught. The
Truitt, Robert Rauschenberg and Isa Genzken have made art.
inaccuracy of the work is part of the appeal, one feels that there is something missing and that this absence is as important as what
The British abstract expressionist Peter Lanyon’s constructions
is present. This “missing” is not felt as a deficiency but rather as an
were the first painterly sculptures or sculptural paintings that I
excitement; it is an invitation from the artist to speculate on the
recognized as Objects. From them stems all my thoughts and ex-
whole and imagine what is left out. Lanyon and Genzken reject the
periences of the art Object. Working before Minimalism, Lanyon’s
standards of the traditional “artwork” and instead create dynamic,
reasons for making these objects were wholly different than those
frustrating and disruptive objects that eventually bring the artist’s
stated by the Minimalists. Lanyon believed in the importance of
vision to you in new ways.
what he called the “ ‘informing’ and ‘forming’ stages of painting, those processes of collecting data to form an image of his envi-
The works of Lanyon and Genzken differ however in their mate-
ronment.” To this end, Lanyon lay on, drew, photographed, tasted
rial intentionality. Lanyon used his materials in an abstract ex-
and flew over the land. Using this information he created small
pressionist manner; the materials were meant to say something
constructions that he used to further inform his paintings. Lan-
about something else, i.e. the land. They were used to evoke and
yon made these objects using pieces of glass stuck together with
describe elements Lanyon had experienced in the land. Genzken,
black paint and glue as well as materials found in his studio. The
on the other hand, used materials much more in accord with Min-
transparency of the glass along with the jumbled materials pro-
imalist ideals; the material is intended to speak firstly about the
vides many levels of ambiguity and distortion. Although Lanyon
material. However, it has been said of Genzken that she “aspires
used this distortion to assist with his abstract paintings, these ob-
to wrangle the concept of sculpture from the hands of Minimalists
jects may be more descriptive of Lanyon’s experiencing of the land
and take it to completely new places.” Because of this, the ma-
than a painting may ever be. This occurs because these Objects
terials she uses feel like they ask the viewer - Do I perhaps mean
marry qualities of painting such as gestural marks and layering of
something different now that I am next to these other materials?
imagery with the three-dimensionality of sculpture. They become
The viewer is asked - Can we get a larger view of this material now
paintings in the round – yet (and this is the joy), they cannot be
that it is placed next to these other materials? Yet their meaning
fully described as such. As a viewer you feel comfortable seeing a
is never revealed. Genzken has said “That’s why the formal in my
language you know and then that very knowledge is called into
more recent works is daring in a way because there is little to hold
question. This can leave you feeling upset, disrupted, or excited,
on to, little one can tie things to, except for a sense I have when
20 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Peter Lanyon: Wreck (1963)
I am actually engaged in the process of construction and things
traditional art structures and the materials they are made from to
come together.”
tease (out) our preconceived ideas of art.
Genzken’s contemporary Objects are often composed using many
Rauschenberg, like the earlier Lanyon and the later Genzken, is
varied materials, seemingly haphazardly placed together. Because
also interested in visual disruption. He stated that the materials’
of this, Genzken’s work can also be seen as relating directly to
“uniqueness [sic] were what fed my curiosity. They didn’t have a
Robert Rauschenberg’s Combines. Working at the end of Abstract
choice but to become something new. Then you put them in jux-
Expressionism, Rauschenberg’s Combines questioned both paint-
taposition with something else and you very quickly get a world
ing and sculpture. Rauschenberg’s work unifies these separate
of surprises...So the object itself was changed by its context and
categories into one category – Objects. These objects, which he
therefore it became a new thing.” Visual relationships between
called Combines , are composed using materials such as historical
materials, i.e. color, texture, shape, gesture or some other simi-
papers, artifacts and everyday found materials. Rauschenberg’s
larity, are brought to the fore, and this creates the sensation of
interest in these materials, as well as his rejection of many of the
relationships between things which were once unrelated. This
ideals of Abstract Expressionism, led him to search for a new, more
fashioning of new relationships in Rauschenberg’s Combines not
playful means of expression. Rauschenberg, like the later Genzken,
only makes the work seem somehow political, in that the viewer
uses non-traditional materials to painterly effect. At the same time
is perhaps being asked to form relationships between images of
he shows an interest in formal composition in that he adapts and
people, places and things, but also very formal pictorially, in that
plays with both the rectangle of the traditional painting and the
the viewer is being asked to see the compositional elements aside
plinth of the formal sculpture. He adds to and subtracts from these
from the illusory connection. We are disrupted as we try to figure
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 21
out whether the connection is or is not merely visual. Genzken and
ested in the traditional picture plane. Truitt, in an interview with
Rauschenberg create relationships between spaces, colors and
The Washington Post in 1987, said “I’ve struggled all my life to get
materials that speak directly to space, color and material them-
maximum meaning in the simplest possible form.” Like Lanyon,
selves first, and, unlike Lanyon whose work is solidly abstracted
Truitt’s idea “was not to get rid of life but to keep it and to see what
narrative, their work is positioned between the worlds of formalist
it is. But the only way I seem to be able to see what anything is, is
concern and narrative interpretation. Rauschenberg’s and Genz-
to make it in another form, in the form in which it appears in my
ken’s work, although complex visually, is at first impression about
head.” Truitt works intuitively and with an integrity that does not
color and form and the relationship between these two things.
allow her to make either painting or sculpture. The structures she
This is not to say that their work does not have meaning, but it is
creates are the most honest representation of what she feels and
often implied by the viewer rather than imbued by the artist.
thinks. They involve shifting amounts of both painting and sculpture, and because of that, at no point can these Objects be called
Genzken’s work often draws from the Minimalist concept of objec-
either. In that fact lies their beautiful tension. Genzken’s work is
tive abstraction. She separates color and form from emotion. Yet,
also full of tension; the materials balance precariously, the colors
in her later work, she marries color and form, perhaps not to create
too often balance just as precariously next to each other. These
a narrative but, instead, to create questions. In contrast to both
works look always like they are about to implode, explode or do
Rauschenberg’s and Genzken’s work, Anne Truitt’s work, although
both at once. Yet, like Truitt’s, Genzken’s work also balances, deftly
aesthetically close to Minimalist art, is conceptually further away
enough to cause concern, between painting and sculpture. It is in
from Minimalism. Truitt cared deeply about the emotional impact
that balance that we are asked to consider why these things are
of the color and form she used. Truitt was often criticized by Min-
made and why they are made in the way they are made. These
imalist artist and theorist Donald Judd for just these reasons; in
questions are fundamentally part of the inherent nature of Genz-
1963 he critiqued an exhibition of Truitt’s work, saying “There are a
ken’s Objects. To have these questions answered would remove
number of boxes and columns, both simple and combined, in this
from them their intrinsic nature, it would destroy the very purpose
exhibition, and a large slab. The work looks serious without being so. The partitioning of the colors on the boxes is merely that, and the arrangement of the boxes is as thoughtless as the tombstones which they resemble.” The Minimalist ideal, that work should not be about anything but itself, was not something that Truitt was interested in. Her work, although appearing quite sparse visually, was profoundly invested with emotion and referenced specific imagery. For Truitt the physical shape of pieces resembled something - fences, walks or architectural environments - with the specific colors adding emotional meaning. Like Lanyon, Truitt was always making visual explorations of both abstraction and personal reference. Writing in 1965, Truitt stated: “What is important to me in not geometrical shape per se, or color per se, but to make a relationship between shape and color which feels to me like my experience. To make what feels to me like reality.” Truitt uses plinths and pedestal-type constructions as abstractions of objects in the physical world while Genzken uses the vocabulary of traditional forms, such a plinths and pedestals, in a different way. By adding juxtaposing material to these forms Genzken’s work expands on, abandons, and reinterprets those very forms. In this way Genzken’s use of form usually questions the meaning of sculpture itself, whereas Truitt uses form to speak of narrative. In this way Truitt’s work is closer to Lanyon’s as being abstracted narrative – although unlike Lanyon she is never inter-
22 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Peter Lanyon: Construction for ‘Lost Mine’ (1959)
they are created for as well as the very tension which makes them visually and conceptually exciting. It can be said, at this point in art history, that the art Object has grown and developed almost beyond recognition from the Minimalist ideal. The Object, however, can still be seen as conceptually very connected to that ideal, albeit if that connection is only a rejection. Artist and critic Robert Morris, in his essay “Anti Form”, anticipated Lanyon, Genzken, Truitt and Rauschenberg’s work when he stated that : “recently, materials other than rigid industrial ones have begun to show up. Sometimes a direct manipulation of a given material...is made. In these cases, consideration of gravity becomes as important as that of space. Considerations of ordering are not necessarily casual, imprecise and unemphasized, random piling, loose stacking, hanging give passing form to material. Chance is accepted
Isa Genzken: Empire/Vampire III, 18 (2004) metal, lacquer, plastic, glass, fabric, photographs, shells, wood, 200 x 83 x 52.5 cm (Courtesy Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne)
and indeterminacy is implied since replacing will result in another configuration. Disengagement with preconceived enduring forms and orders for things is a positive assertion, it is part of the work’s refusal to continue aestheticizing form by dealing with it as a prescribed end” These four artists, Lanyon, Truitt, Rauschenberg and Genzken straddle and blur the line between painting and sculpture; they have, along with many other artists working in the last 60 years, managed to create a new art category, that of the art Object. This category not only often allows for expression of ideas more fully than either painting of sculpture, but it also questions and reacts to these categories. Paradoxically, this questioning and reaction
Born in New Zealand, Alison Williams now lives in New Hampshire and is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Williams received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Boston where she was awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. Alison’s work is in many private and public collections including the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, MA, Portland Museum of Art, ME, and Smith College of Art, MA.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 23
MULTIPLE OCCUPANCY: ELEANOR ANTIN’s “SELVES” AT ICA/BOSTON BY NATE RISTEEN
Last year marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. A massive reenactment of the conflict was staged, involving thousands of participants who dressed, ate, spoke, and moved like nineteenth century soldiers. Commemorative coins were minted and books were published, and the event served as a de facto convention for history buffs that aren’t satisfied with reading. Similar reenactments happen every year, and though many would call them awesome, few would call them art. Most of the attendees work towards an exact reproduction of their subject, and there’s little room for augmentation or commentary. A good re-enactor is a precise re-enactor, and truth to period detail is the highest achievement. These are not the values of fine art. If pressed, most of us would say that we expect our artists to provide insights and social commentaries, to show a side of our world that we might not otherwise see. Artists are progressive thinkers and intellectuals, and war re-enacting ain’t intellectual.
Eleanor Antin: Film Still, from series “Angel of Mercy” (1977)
But sometimes these worlds collide. The Institute of Contempo-
the artist’s self-portraits as a man could lead a viewer to interpret
rary Art/Boston’s Multiple Occupancy: Eleanor Antin’s “Selves”
her show as a typical manifestation of America’s (seemingly) ines-
argues that contemporary artists can share this interest in re-en-
capable race and gender polemics. The exhibition’s biographical
acting separate identities, and perhaps we should look at what’s
statement directs us towards this line of thinking, saying “Eleanor
behind the desire to embody others.
Antin has spent nearly five decades creating humorous and often tragic works that engage history, identity, and feminism.”
Eleanor Antin’s work at the ICA has the scope of a retrospective, spanning decades and encompassing everything from painting
Sure; this repeats the standard jabber of contemporary art. Import-
and sculpture to video and photography. In most pieces the artist
ant artists are expected to be humorous, ironic and self-pitying,
dawns a persona, which often takes a historically feminine form – a
and ICA shows often seek relevance through ‘engaging’ or blaming
nurse or ballet dancer – though her role as the male leader of a San
something. We could read the curatorial blurb and breeze through
Diego beach community is treated with equal care.
this exhibition feeling self-righteous and progressive, taking comfort in the knowledge that we understand the tragic artist’s oppres-
One of these dancers is African American (the only leading role
sion, and that we’re thinking differently and fighting the power in a
that isn’t played by Antin), and the positioning of this video before
safe, museum-appropriate way.
Artists are progressive thinkers and intellectuals, and war re-enacting ain’t intellectual. Eleanor Antin: Field Operation, from the series “Angel of Mercy” (1977)
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 27
And yet something doesn’t sit right with this interpretation. Spending time with Antin’s work gives the feeling that she isn’t being humorous at all. Eleanor Antin seems genuinely empathetic towards her subjects, which defies the blame and easy generalizations of so much contemporary art. She isn’t engaging, she’s feeling and being. The work isn’t funny. Indeed, the only ironic smirk to be seen is on one of the (actually) white male background characters in the artist’s 1970s pseudo-Crimean War photographs. But I’m not smirking, and neither is Eleanor Antin. Her work displays a war re-enactor’s sincerity in coming as close as she can to embodying a different person. Her series of photographs, painted cutout sculptures and videos about Eleanor Nightingale, a doppleganger of the pioneering Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale, might be childish but they’re not ironic. Antin is adopting an identity it all its complexity, rather than creating a mocking or blaming caricature, and this separates her from artists that might at first appear collegial. It has to be said, however, that polemics have come for Antin. A conflict in the Crimea happened just as this show was opening, and though the artist can’t take responsibility for such a coincidence, it adds gravity to her show. A piece unrelated to the Crimea, composed of cutout figures undergoing a hostage crisis in an airplane, also brings to mind the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the great international mystery of 2014. I’m confident that Eleanor Antin had nothing to do with these events, but these coincidences give the feeling that Antin is tapping into a collective consciousness that goes beyond the insulated concerns of art. So how do we interpret the work of an artist who employs the sincere (or even myopic) imitation of a war re-enactor but alludes to current political events by chance? What do we make of pieces that appear naïve but were created by a tenured professor? And most importantly, what do we do when an artist’s play-acting appears heartfelt rather than snarky? Maybe we should take her sincerity… well… sincerely, and like-
Eleanor Antin: The Nurse and the Hijackers (1977)
wise give the war re-enactors more credit. Eleanor Antin wants to escape to an imagined identity in basically the same way as a Gettysburg re-enactor, but the infrastructure of contemporary art – the ICA – allows us to take her more seriously. The desire of both non-artist history buffs and at least one highbrow intellectual to embody otherness in such a similar way argues that they represent some broader social longing. We can glimpse a need in the zeitgeist here that isn’t being fulfilled.
28 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
The value in Antin’s show doesn’t lie in any trite questioning about race and gender, but instead lies in its ability to let the museum-going set think about why Americans of all backgrounds are so obsessed with this desire for otherness. We’re a people adrift, and Eleanor Antin is one of the few curatorially approved voices asking the art smuggies, myself among them, to face it.
Multiple Occupancy: Eleanor Antin’s “Selves” by Eleanor Antin was on view at ICA/Boston (icaboston.org) from March 19 - July 6, 2014.
Nate Risteen is an artist, writer and teacher at The University of New Hampshire and The New Hampshire Institute of Art. Before his role as Managing Editor of COLLECT, Risteen was the primary writer for BostonArtReview, a blog about art in greater Boston.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 29
MAAAAW!
My Involvement with Wo BY CLARITY HAYNES 32 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
omen’s Art Collectives SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 33
When I was in college in Philadelphia, studying liberal arts and feeling isolated from other artists, I started my first women’s art collective. It was called AYWAKE – Alliance of Young Women Artists Kreating Empowerment. Then, later in the ‘90s, friends and I started The House of Maw. It was a raucous group – at every meeting we’d take a group selfie, lying in a pile on the floor and roaring, “MAAAAWWWW!” Both of these groups were basically salons in which members showed up, had some snacks, and shared what we were working on in a safe space. Part of the reason for our existence was to encourage each other. Looking back, it’s clear that part of what we were doing was creating a safe incubator for our individual work, and especially aspects of it that expressed our young, vulnerable,
CLARITY HAYNES: AnnMarie (2010) oil on linen, 58” x 76”
angry, female/feminine, and (often) queer selves. Perhaps the identity of ‘student’ is one that, in our patriarchal sociLater, as a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
ety, it is easier to inhabit as a woman. It’s the identity of ‘masterful
my focus and direction with my work solidified, and after grad-
artist’ (whose works are worth big bucks) that is harder for women
uating from the four year Certificate program, I was fortunate to
to step into. It’s a vicious cycle: there is often an unconscious as-
be part of a group of six women graduates to form the collective
sumption (shared by both men and women) that emerging male
Corpus VI. Our common interest was the figure, and we had our
artists are more likely to succeed, so they are supported more.
first show at Highwire Gallery in 2005. Members were Elena Peteva, Suzanne Schireson, Rachel Constantine, Willow Bader, Georganna
Men often form collectives – officially or otherwise – and they are
Lenssen, and myself. We were all painters, and our work was fig-
not called male collectives. (Case in point: The Philadelphia Trac-
urative, but our styles were distinct. Forming this collective, and
tion Company, which although now includes a few female mem-
organizing our own exhibition, allowed us to take our professional
bers, was founded by was a group of exclusively male artists) Just
development into our own hands and on our own terms.
as men may express their physical and emotional realities in their work (think of Jasper John’s penises or Duchamps’ urinal) and
Graduate school in New York City (I attended Brooklyn College)
they are not called “male body art.”
brought still another reason for organizing. A few years after graduating, I joined tART, a dynamic NYC-based women’s collective. tART
The legacy of the feminist art movement of the ‘70s is strong in the
was founded almost ten years before by Danielle Johnson, Kater-
art world, and here in Brooklyn, where I live, in particular. I’m excit-
ina Lanfranco and others who were at the time MFA students at
ed to be part of the contemporary feminist art network, engaging
Hunter College. They formed tART knowing that the transition from
with others in work that started generations ago. The Brooklyn Mu-
MFA student to professional artist in New York is a different and
seum’s Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art is here, and the
more challenging experience for women than for men. The statis-
constant exhibitions, panels and projects – along with AIR Gallery’s
tics show that women outnumber men in graduate programs, but
presence, as the now historic first all-women coop gallery – make
as you look at who is showing in galleries, and especially at higher
the connection between generations palpable. Recently I listened
levels, men outnumber women more and more. Micol Hebron’s
to the artist Susan Bee describe in a talk she gave at AIR Gallery how
Gallery Tally Project is a great indicator of this disparity.
hard it was to get her paintings shown in the ‘80s. Artist and writer Mira Schor is also a dynamic presence in the city, talking about
I was once told by a prominent artist and erstwhile professor at
her past and current experiences honestly. Unlike in past waves of
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts that he had noticed
feminism, when the movement was erased from history and sub-
that women were well supported, earning many awards, while en-
sequent generations had to reinvent the wheel all over again, now,
rolled as students; but that after graduation, the institution failed
because of the internet, information is more readily shared. The
to support women alumni in the ways it did men.
lessons from the past are being carried into the future. I have wit-
34 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Holly Trostle Brigham: Tamara de Lempika on Autopilot (2009) 29.5” x 29.5”
nessed the necessity of telling your own history. At a recent panel
Roysdon, Ginger Brooks Takahashi, and K8 Hardy. Other collec-
at the Brooklyn Museum, “The Future is History: Feminist Legacies
tives with roots in NYC include The Ladies’ Auxiliary and The Brain-
in Contemporary Art,” I heard from members of older generations
stormers (the latter having an activist focus and collaborating with
about lessons learned as a community whose history tends to be
a group that started many years before, the famous Guerrilla Girls).
erased, which can be summed up in the phrase “archive fiercely.”
The YAMS collective – currently in the spotlight for their inclusion in and protest of the 2014 Whitney Biennial -- is a mixed collective
Artists form collectives for multiple reasons, support and power
of “mostly brown, queer” artists. For me, the main reason to form a
in numbers being chief among them. LTTR (Lesbians To The Res-
collective is that it’s unrealistic to wait for someone else to give you
cue) is a feminist genderqueer collective founded in 2001 by Emily
opportunities. You just have to create your own.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 35
“Looking back, it’s clear that part of what we were doing was creating a safe incubator for our individual work, and especially aspects of it that expressed our young, vulnerable, angry, female/feminine, and (often) queer selves.” I find tART to be empowering because members are exhibiting,
gallery. They claim they just haven’t found the right women. An-
teaching, writing, starting galleries, having children, and all the
other gallery I’m thinking of often shows young, male, emerging
while supporting each other. It’s gone through a lot of changes and
artists, and only rarely shows women – and when they are shown,
probably will go through more. Racial diversity is important to the
they tend to be older, established artists who have already proven
group and increasingly other issues are being looked at as well,
themselves.
such as LGBT participation and the inclusion of trans women. Siri Husdvedt writes about this phenomenon in her work of ficWhat I’m currently very excited about is that Corpus VI has come
tion, The Blazing World. The protagonist, Harriet Burden, is a mid-
together again, ten years after our first show, and will be exhibiting
dle-aged woman who has been making art for decades, and con-
at the New Bedford Art Museum in Massachusetts in 2015. Suzanne
tinues to be ignored by the art world of which she is a part (her
Schireson, Elena Peteva and I have invited three new artists: Stacy
late husband was a prominent dealer). Burden decides to present
Latt Savage, Laurie Kaplowitz and Holly Trostle Brigham. It’s great
her work as if it were the work of a young male artist. She does
to forge these new connections while continuing the relation-
this several times, with successful exhibitions in which men stand
ships started more than ten years ago, when half the group were
in as the creators of the work. She – and by extension, the reader –
students together at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
witnesses the hypocrisy and gender biases of the art world in the
The longevity and connection of our friendship has proven to be
blatant difference in how the work is received when it is seen as the
an unanticipated benefit of having formed the collective and our
work of a man.
continued nurturing of it. Today, many years after the feminist art movement made its I was once told by a painter who became very well known as a
mark, masculine values and aesthetics are still prized, and work
feminist artist in the 1970s, “Don’t be pegged as a feminist artist.
is received based on people’s understanding of who made it. A
You’ll never get out from under it.” Some women artists refuse to
feminine-looking piece may be more successfully received if it’s
be shown in all-women shows, with the argument that it creates a
thought that a man made it. There are layers and layers of dou-
sort of lesser space for women based on their gender. Maybe they
ble standards based on ideas of strength and weakness, and one’s
have a point; it is interesting that recently, when the high-profile
perceived gender. There are ways of behaving that are encouraged
Whitney Biennial-adjunct, The Brucennial, showed only women
in men that a woman would never get away with.
artists, it was not given a full review in any major publication. It was quite simply ignored.
Women who are minorities, whether by LGBT status or as women of color, face an extra barrier in achieving success as artists. As was
Others think that to organize based on gender is an outmoded
made clear by the conflicts around race in the 2014 Whitney Bien-
practice, with the current understanding of gender being so com-
nial, racism is still a huge problem in the art world. And alliances
plex and fluid. (Many feminist institutions deal with this by stating
and partnerships with men, which queer women don’t necessarily
that “self-identified women” are free to apply to their shows and
have, are a form of cultural capital in the art world. (Think of all of
panels).
the famous women artists, from Georgia O’Keefe to Lee Krasner, whose husbands were powerful, well-known artists). However, in
And yet we are not living in a post-feminist world. Transgender
recent years, as there is less of a stigma attached to being gay, the
people are more empowered, and queer and postmodern per-
situation has improved somewhat for queer women artists. There
spectives have made the current landscape very different than that
are quite a few visible lesbian, queer and even trans “power cou-
of the 1970’s; but the fact remains that oppression still exists based
ples” in the art world, in which both partners are artists (think Pa-
on gender, perceived or otherwise. And sexism in the art world is
tricia Cronin and Deborah Kass, or Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe).
still rampant. For example, the prominent Lower East Side gallery Pablo’s Birthday shows only men, but they’re not known as a men’s
36 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Recently, at an Art W event, a salon organized by the Rutgers Insti-
CLARITY HAYNES: Radical Acceptance (2010) oil on linen, 22” x 28”
tute for Women and Art, the artist Holly Trostle Brigham showed
This is why it continues to be important to me, personally, to put
her work. The iconic photorealist and feminist artist Audrey
my energy into supporting other women artists, and why I partic-
Flack stood up and made impassioned comments in support of
ipate in collectives. I want to support others in making the work
Brigham’s work (which deals with women in history and in art
they’re meant to make, especially if society doesn’t support them.
through self-portraiture), underlining the fact that as feminist work
It is also why, for better and for worse, I don’t shy away from the
which challenges mainstream patriarchal narratives, it is work that
term ‘feminist artist’. Rather, it is a term I am honored to inherit.
needs support. How well I know this to be true. My work, too, goes against the mainstream – it is an opposition to misogyny. The work I’ve put
Clarity Haynes is an artist, writer and educator living in New York
the most energy into throughout my career is The Breast Portrait
City. She teaches drawing at Brooklyn College of the City Universi-
Project, which spans drawing, painting, documentary photogra-
ty of New York, and painting at Adelphi University. To find out more
phy, artist book production, and writing. The work is vulnerable,
about her work, visit www.clarityhaynes.com.
and it comes out of my experience as part of a feminist and lesbian community, which was an important part of my life from my late teens on. It is important to me that I continue to make the work even though it isn’t easy; part of the reason it’s been possible is that I’ve had community. Even though much of the time I’m alone in the studio, my work is not about that solitude. It is about other women, other people who in some way exist and flourish in a world that doesn’t see them. It’s about my subjects, my models, and the supporters of what I do – people who have told me that my work has been meaningful to them.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 37
ShrineBeast
ANDREW PAUL WOOLBRIGHT AUGUST 28 — OCTOBER 5
YELLOW PERIL GALLERY www.yellowperilgallery.com
IN SEARCH OF GALLERIES, COLLECTORS AND REPRESENTATION THE GALLERIST BY VANPHOUTHON SOUVANNASANE
Over 70% of visitors to our gallery are from outside Rhode Island, and about the same percentage — out of the remaining 30% — is from the more affluent East Side of Providence. I was under the impression that most visitors would originate from the more “hipster” populated West Side since our gallery is located across the bridge in Olneyville, a neighborhood with a rich industrial and artistic heritage. Many artists live and work here in the numerous mill complexes, and there are three contemporary art galleries alone at The Plant, where we are based. At first, I was in denial about why people in the surrounding area did not visit us regularly, and then reality struck: the locals are afraid of venturing out to a neighborhood that they deem as “unsafe” and “scary.” As former New Yorkers, we consider Olneyville to be reminiscent of a pre-gentrified Chelsea or Williamsburg — and the neighborhood was ripe for a contemporary art gallery as an anchor to attract worldclass artists, collectors, curators and critics. Since opening four years ago, we are still learning about the reality of running a commercial art business and the many misconceptions along the way. Let’s discuss a few topics that artists should know about art galleries, collectors and
40 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
representation.
ing if their legal designation permits it.
What It Feels Like For A Gallery: We run a commercial art gallery. As such, we host regular exhibitions and sell artwork at both
Although Yellow Peril is a commercial gallery, this designation
our brick-and-mortar space and elsewhere, like art fairs. Many
doesn’t mean we don’t have the same pressure points as our non-
galleries operate in this fashion; it’s their program and source of
profit peers. Some shows sell well, some don’t make a dime de-
income that vary and separate us from each other. We are 100%
spite the column inches. This is still true for us four years later, but
funded by our own resources (a dangerous combination of sav-
we believe strongly in our roster and the program that guides our
ings, credit, retirement funds and personal loans), and we do not
business. Essentially, the gallery that artists choose to work with
rely on any public funding to pay for operating expenses.
needs to also have this blind confidence if they want to sustain a thriving presence. In Search of Collectors: In the early days, we didn’t have any serious art collectors come to the gallery. Most of our “base” at the time included family members and casual collectors of artists that we were showing. When you’re an art gallery that’s new to town, what do you do to build up a collector base? Work harder than everyone else to get noticed, of course! We did this by engaging with segments of the community that we felt would benefit from our perspective on contemporary art and culture. In addition to being present at as many art openings and events as possible, we knew that “preaching to the choir” was not going to necessarily help us long-term, so we took advantage of opportunities to speak at panels and host events at the gallery that brought in a diverse demographic. Through this approach, we were able to make inroads with the “Cultural Elite” and expose our gallery to a new audience of art lovers. By partnering with cultural institutions
Like any respectable gallery, we don’t charge artists to show their work. This is not considered to be “best practice” in the art world. We provide artists with a space to exhibit their art, and our primary role is to promote and sell while artists create. “Vanity” galleries charge for shows and exhibit artwork from the owners, and although this is frowned upon, it’s a necessity for some artist-owned galleries in areas with high concentrations of artists and so few spaces to show artwork. Collectives don’t necessarily fall under this category, but many do collect dues and qualify for public fund-
like The Providence Athenaeum and Providence Preservation Society, we connected with collectors and established a discourse that is still active today. Once serious art collectors were aware of our existence, they came to check us out and some are now regulars at our openings. I define serious collectors not so much by their capacity to buy art, but more by their passion for acquiring the work and doing what they can to support and promote the careers of the artists that are
Hao Ni: Smoke Sculpture (2013)
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 41
“As former New Yorkers, we consider Olneyville to be reminiscent of a pre-gentrified Chelsea or Williamsburg — and the neighborhood was ripe for a contemporary art gallery as an anchor to attract world-class artists, collectors, curators and critics.”
introduced to them via the gallery. Some collectors also serve on the boards of prestigious museums and have offered to work with us to promote the careers of our represented artists. Others have advocated for us to enter the art fair market to connect our artists with a more global audience and establish relationships with relevant collectors, curators, and critics interested in their career trajectories. For galleries, collectors are people who sincerely support their vision and mission through words and actions. Building up this base is integral for survival, and diversifying audiences is key to further extending the reach of both artists and galleries. Represented vs. Exhibited Artists: I worked in the corporate world for a decade at an international banking cooperative, where I learned about the importance of best practice, partnerships and measuring success through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Our gallery continuously makes an effort to apply these principles when working with represented artists. Each person is like a “handheld account” with his or her own quirks and definitions of success. Several of the artists we represent are consistent with their track record of shows, accomplishments and sales, but these factors are only aspects of a bigger picture. We also work with a handful of artists who are at the nascent stages of their career. In fact, some have had their first or second solo exhibition at our gallery in Providence. What’s most important when establishing a relationship with a gallery is to be collaborative and transparent. As a gallery, we do everything we can to maximize the success of every artist that we represent, taking into consideration that not everyone is an exhibition artist and some are ripe for a museum show, biennial or art fair. We are generous with our time, contacts and money (whatever little we may have), so we expect our artists to work closely with us to identify what they want from our relationship, where they want to take their careers, and how we can work together to define success factors. This way, we are fully invested in the professional growth of the artist. We also work with artists who are not on our roster but have exhibited in our gallery or various other spaces where we are present.
42 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Some exhibited artists have had solo exhibitions with us, but most have been included in group exhibitions or projects curated by the gallery or guest curators. Unlike represented artists, our primary focus with exhibited artists is to provide them with an opportunity to show their work and introduce them to a new audience for a limited time, usually six months. All artists — represented or exhibited — are invited to have select works for sale on Artsy, and we do regularly seek opportunities for growth, such as scheduling studio visits with curators and introducing artists to collectors. In the Fall issue of COLLECT, I will share insights on money, submissions and relationships between galleries, artists, curators, and critics. If there is a particular aspect of running a commercial gallery that you are interested in learning more about in future, feel free to contact The Gallerist at van@yellowperilgallery.com.
Jamey Morrill: Larvae (2012) plastic soda bottles, drywall screws, thread
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 43
RI ART ARCHIVE PROJECT: FOCUS ON WOMEN ARTISTS INTERVIEW WITH HOLLY GABORIAULT BY ROBERT P. STACK The RI ART ARCHIVE PROJECT is a four-part documentary film series integrating different perspectives in the Rhode Island arts community, ranging from the visual artists, curators, museum directors, gallery owners, art historians and art collectors. It explores a moment in time here in Rhode Island while documenting the state’s cultural importance. COLLECT Editor-in-Chief Robert P. Stack interviews Curator / Producer / Director Holly Gaboriault about the recently completed third series, which focuses on women artists.
What inspired you to focus the next film of your series
takes nerve still today. Art is about answering the call to
on female artists? It was quite unintentional, at first. I had
listen to individual voices and risk whatever it takes to
visited an exhibition that did not include women artists;
express that voice.
it was all men. I looked around and said out loud, “Where the heck are the women?” That was a powerful statement
Rhode Island appears to have a high concentration of
to me, beyond the theme of the show. I wasn’t the only
working artists, but beyond that is there also an unusu-
person who felt that way, many fellow artists both men and
ally high concentration of female artists? Statistically
women wondered the same. At this time, I was working on
speaking I don’t know the demographic of women artists
FILM|1 and began compiling a list of artists for FILM|2. By
here in Rhode Island. I do know the visibility and involve-
coincidence, the list had more women than men. I felt it
ment of women in both collaboratives and individual
was a good time to extend the conversation to focus on the
exhibitions are visible. I have never seen a ‘back-seat’ atti-
perspectives of women artists rooted in RI, their challenges
tude from any women I have ever met here in RI. What I am
and successes.
struck with is the perseverance and force to make things happen amongst women in the arts and culture field. The
What are some of the unique challenges that female
figureheads of many of RI’s cultural, historical and artistic
artists encounter? Women know they are tasked with
institutions are women. Think about that because that says
being caretakers, raising children, taking care of sick
a lot.
relatives and maintaining a home and a business. There is a responsibility to the self which equates responsibility to
Was the multi-generation aspect determined at the
their loved ones. It is a balancing act. Artists also spoke of
onset, or did it just evolve naturally as you began
censorship, free speech and the idea of who the Gatekeep-
interviewing subjects? Having a diverse group of artists
ers can be. Women are going against what was historically
representing multiple generations and media is so very
deemed ‘tradition’ choosing the life of an artist, and that
important. Exploring the idea of women as emerging art-
46 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
Nafis White
ists, no matter what the age, became another theme in this film. The fact simply is that women reinvent themselves all the time. Against whatever odds are out there, it appears that women possess great ability for transition and change. How did this additional layer of generational relationships affect the challenges already inherent in being a female artist? The experiences and perspectives intersect not only generationally, but also culturally. Each one of us is the living history of what has occurred in the world providing us with the opportunity for unique responses. Since the women in FILM|2 come from a global community,
“Exploring the idea of women as emerging artists, no matter what the age, became another theme in this film. The fact simply is that women reinvent themselves all the time. Against whatever odds are out there, it appears that women possess great ability for transition and change.�
ranging from the US, Cuba, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, they offer a variety of different political and social experiences which shaped who they are and why they value arts and creativity. Art is a language that goes beyond boundaries and every artist can push it to places you can’t imagine.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 47
Ana Flores
Were there any revelations or reversals of assumption
What do you think the future holds for female artists?
that you encountered during filming? When I asked
Women need to stay visible and RI allows that. It’s because
these women what it meant to be a female artist, how
RI has many communities within communities and that en-
they could make non-feminist work without disregarding
ergy injects itself into the air. I am from Providence, I went
the fact they were female, some said to me that being a
to RISD and although my own work reaches beyond RI, I
women did not factor into the goal of their work. If female
am inspired to give back to the community any way I can.
sensibilities came forth in the work, so be it. They were
I cannot predict what the future holds in art, but these are
artists making art. Many spoke of the strong women who
transitional times blurring boundaries.
raised them and how the concept of not being able to obtain one’s dreams because of gender never occurred to
I ask all the artists in both films what their advice for any
them. It goes without saying, that each woman recognizes
artist at any stage of their careers would be. In FILM|2, Nafis
the struggles facing women in the area of exhibition visibil-
White addresses this modern attitude towards art for any
ity and equality for wages in careers. These issues are still
gender by saying: “Let me tell you what, this is advice for
very relevant.
anybody. If you do what you love, do it so fully and so completely and with every part of your being and love it. Nur-
Were there any marked differences in this film from past
ture yourself for doing this kind of thing. That’s life and that
films? There are no men featured in the film. This isn’t a
is what this is all about, going for broke. Don’t be afraid of
statement of any kind, except that the content is women
anything. Don’t be afraid of what people will say or anyone’s
specific. In contrast to that, aside from myself, the film’s
negative opinions. You have to do what you love. Period.”
team consists of a talented group of men who are thrilled to see the project focus on the ladies.
The RI ART ARCHIVE PROJECT FILM | 2: WOMEN ARTISTS will premiere at Newport Art Museum in October 2014.
48 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 49
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, after Manet
50 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
The BAR-GIRL by SARA BACKER At age nine, I entered A Bar at the Folies-Bergères during a painting reproduction sale in the bargain basement of a Worcester department store. Love at first look: I wanted to be the bar-girl. I saw romance in her round breasts and the peony in her bodice, the margin of lace circling it and the sleeves of her black velvet jacket, her pearl gray satin skirt and buttons shaped like flowers. Later, I bought a gold bangle because it resembled hers. With a cut glass bowl full of oranges by my side, I, crowned by a coruscating chandelier, would pour wine for a woman whose gloves matched the foil of the champagne bottles on the marble slab, held ready for spontaneous celebration. At first, I didn’t see the mirror. I thought the woman from the back was her sister. One with long hair, one with bangs. I perceived the bar as an island in a crowded room. When I saw double moons, I realized I was facing her, and the real bar was half its size. My sister claimed she was sad. I said she was daydreaming, the way I did in school, waiting for the next order. Her customer was dull, like all the other men whose mustaches hid their lips. Top hats, replicated to infinity, turned into bottles in the distance. My sister told me about burlesque and banana skirts, but this was not in Manet’s painting. This bar-girl was more shepherdess than stripper. A working girl with private fantasies. Perhaps an artist’s model, but no one’s whore. I could hear the chatter of flirting, feel the foggy Paris night, and smell the fragrance of the peony over the wine and sweat. My eyes, the clearest in the room, saw no one, lost in my own thoughts. And I vowed to stand strong always with my back to the mirror.
Sara Backer, author of the novel AMERICAN FUJI, has poems coming out in A cappella Zoo, The Rialto, Arc, Gargoyle, Carve and many more. For links to her poems online, visit www. sarabacker.com.
SUMMER 2014 COLLECT 51
JULY 03
ALLEN SEKULA Ship of Fools until September 6 at Christopher Grimes Gallery
09
GIULIO PAOLINI To Be or Not to Be until September 14 at Whitecapel Gallery
16
HERE AND ELSEWHERE Curated by Massimiliano Gioni until September 28 at New Museum
17
CHARLES GAINES Gridwork 1974–1989 until October 26 at The Studio Museum in Harlem
26
LI JINGHU Time is Money until September 14 at Magician Space
CALENDAR Providence, Boston, New York City and beyond, as curated by the Editors of COLLECT from submissions by readers Fall Submissions from OCTOBER / NOVEMBER / DECEMBER
SEPTEMBER 08 10 11
for editorial consideration: info@collect-magazine.com
12 52 COLLECT SUMMER 2014
AUGUST 08
IAN WITTLESEA A Breathing Bulb until September 6 at Marlborough Contemporary
21
GARRET GOULD, CLAUDIA O’STEEN, SOPHIA SOBERS tttrip. until September 13 at GRIN
23
SANTIAGO RUBINO The Doors of Perception until October 4 at Spinello Projects
26
MARC DENNIS A$$holes on Cellphones until September 20 at Zane Bennett Contemporary Art
RAQUEL PAIEWONSKY HÍPER POUF until September 22 at Lucy Garcîa Arte Contemporáneo GREG MENCOFF Chasing Artifacts until November 1 at Carroll and Sons RUDY SHEPHERD Disaster Fatigue until October 11 at Mixed Greens DAVID BIELANDER Far Out, Brussels Sprout! until October 4 at Caroline Van Hoek
Raquel Paiewonsky: Dunes (2013) photographic print, 28” x 42”