Valerie Hammond: Curated by Kiki Smith

VALERIE HAMMOND APRIL 27 - JUNE 3, 2006 CURATED BY KIKI SMITH

CUE ART FOUNDATION

\\'e arc honored and gratc.f11l to present this c•,hihition gencro11sly curated by Kiki Smith. For thc CUE solo exhibition s!'ri!'s, ;vis. Smith has chosen fellow artist, Valerie• I lammond, who livc•s and works in J\'t'\1' York. ;vis. I lammo1Hl has long hc•c•n admirC'd by her pc•ers as an artist who has forg<'d a unique artistic 1·oice. Smith's appr!'ciation of 1 lammond's work demonstrates just s11<:h admiration.

CUE is plc-.1sed to rec:ogniz!' that this is ;vis. I l animond's first solo e�hihition in J\'ew York. ;vis. Smith and we>, together, cclehrat!' this effort and wish her a future of f11lfilln1c•nt and Sll<:C('SS.

THIS EXHIBITION IS SUPPORTED IN PART BY AGNES GUND & DANIEL SHAPIRO

ARTIST'S STATEMENT As an artist I have' fo11nd that process is a f11nda111e11tal part of 111y work. 1 n prac:ti<.:e this means that I 111ight ha\'(' ideas abo11l where 111y work is going. hut often the physical process of the work infor111s what ac:t11ally happens in Ill)' studio. I arn inlN (•sted in evoking s(•nsation and rnaking work which is corporeal in nature. \\'hile the figures and portraits rnay h<'gin to point towards or sugg<'sl scnli111ent, it is important lo me that the work is not S('nlinlPnlal hut ex1wriC'nlial.

Growing up in a small agric11ltural com111unity in California, 111y Pxposure lo cultural institutions was limited. al bC'sl. I have always hc•c•n drmvn lo places and objects that arc full of 1nyst('I)'· So111e of Ill)' most significant visual inlluences were images I saw in ch11rch. \\'hilc thP religious aspect of my church experience was less pressing. the \'isual cues al church we're what kept my attention. I am fascinated hy shrine's and ('x-votos - devotional votive objects that families make to show love• and respect. These objects inspire the typ<' of physical intimacy that holds my artistic practice. Asian art is also a strong influence on my work. From Tihc•lan nwdical drawings lo Buddhist sculptures. I find myself looking lo ancient forms for inspiration. Cest1in' ofh•n plays a most prominent role for these artists - as it does for Ill(' - whether il plays out in a s111all aspect of tlw image or is its essenC('. as with th<' i111ages of hands.

Layering is another essential aspect of 111y work. \\'hctlwr this is seen or percei\'C•d as physical or contextual, Ill)' interest is in co111hining the literal and e111otional q11alilies that are C'\Oked through the physical procC'ss of layering. I begin by collec:ting fc•rns and other organic 111atcrials. lransfor111ing them through drawing and the prinl111aking process. t-rc•aling i111ages that 111arry lh<' fr·rns with images of tlw body. These images rcllect the uniqueness of individual hands, as well as reveal lhC' tracing of the spirit. The process in which the i111age itselris snhnwrged in a tray of healed wax nwlaphorically rC'lllOV('S the imag<' fro111 the world of the li\·ing; hut paradox­ ically pr('S('1w•s it indefinit(•ly. The images act as mechanisms lo stop tinw - to docu111ent a 1110111ent in a person ·s life - an opc'n 111editation on portraiture.

I would like to thank Kiki S111ith. Agnes Cull(!, Daniel Shapiro, Mall Carson, Lisa Sell<', Barry F'riN, 1 lilary HadnN, Bob, Emma, and Luc for their increclihk support.

Voli'rii' llo11111w11d

CURATOR'S STATEMENT Quite often wll('n 1woplC' mistake me. knowing that I'm an artist, for another known woman artist of' a generation or so before, I glibly rc'spond that we arc sort of interchangeable'. If you could zoom out a hit, like in a Charles Eames hook or now on Google satC'llit<' maps. it would lw harder to distinguish what scparatC'd artists· work at a giw'n monwnt, and morC' ov('rridingly apparent what W(' share.

ValC'ric I lamlllond and I met through a mutual f'riend. She and I lived near onP another, and as we bccanw acquainted. it became apparent that w<' had a great affinity to one another and shared similar prC'occupations in our work. Ov<'r thC' last ten y<'ars or so she has bC'comc indisp<'nsahlC' to me as an artist, colleague, friend, co-t<'aclwr, and companion.

Both Valerie and I canw f'rolll Irish-Catholic backgrounds. \\'c arc drawn to the curiosities of' Victorian a<'sthC'tics, and we ar<' both avid printmakers. ValC'ric's work is VPI")' appar<'nt to Ill<'; we both reside lwtw<'<'n the material world and thC' spirit realms in our daily lives. I Icr \\'ork is imnJcdiatC' and visceral. extremely feminine and familiar. She weaves her work amongst her dolllestic life, her teaching. her studio lif'c and her children's exercises. Valerie has a scnsiti,·ity to paper and a d<'<'p, fundamental interest in printmaking, and in expanding the range of possibilities within lllaking prints.\\'(' share a similar sC'nsihility, tcmpC'ranwnt, and personal expectations.

I implanted lllyself into her generous family. At sonw point I invited her as a visiting artist to my printmaking class at l\'YU; since thC'n W(' ha\'(' taught together at :--JYU and Columbia University.

But while I grew up in the cold shadow of puritanical :-Jew r�ngland. Valerie grew up as a California surfer chick in a small rural town in central California and went to the Univer­ sity of' California at Berkeley for graduate school along with Theresa Cha and Shirin l\'eshat. She worked during thC' early 80's at the enormously influential Pacific F'ilm Archive, and sine<' then has taught <:'Xtensiv<.'ly in Franc<' and thC' United States.

Valerie's work exists in a glimnwr, in the periphery, slightly away or out of' vision. in a kind of magical realm in tlw musty 1111dC'rgrowth at the edge of our gardens. She is graced with a knowledg<' and appreciation of enchantment. ShP works extensively in paper using repetitive images that unfold and reveal nuanc<'S. She unC'arths the dc<'p-rootcd connection lwtw<'<'n our bodies and tlw natural <'arth; the way things deteriorate' and are reborn. By focusing on remnants and traces she cr<'ates a physical reliqua,)' n'prc'S<'nting our ancestors and our lives in fill\. \Vp arc part of a group of wonwn artists in our time expanding the houndari<'s of art to include the complexity and whol<'ncss of our <'xpcrienc<'.

Kiki S111ith

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Jane. 2006 Transfer. pencil and wax on paper. 20" x 16 1/2"

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Emma 2006 Transfer. penc11 garnet beads and wax on oaper, 20" x 16 1/2"

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Nellie. 2006 Transfer pencil and wax on paper. 20" x 16 1/2"

BIOS

\'ALl,RIE IIA�tMOND

Valt'ri(' I larnmond was horn in tlw small town or Santa Maria, CA. T hough in school slw regularly madC' shri1ws dedicated to the Virgin Mary during the month of' May. it was not until the age of fourtt't'n that she was introduced to art through a class al a 1H·,,· local school. At that moment, she decided to become an artist.

She receivt'd ht'r MFA from the Univt'rsity of California at Berkeley. wherC' she was awarded the Eisnt'r Award. Upon graduation she rnovPd to J\'pw York City and was appointed to her first tt'aching position through the Clev(•land Institute of Art in Lacoste, France, whC'rl' she li,·Pd on and off for the next threP y('ars. Upon returning to l\'('\\' York shC' began leaching inner city school children art part time through the Studio in a School program. l lan1111ond has taught printmaking al Columbia University, l\'ew York University. the Yale :\lorfolk Program and drawing al Cooper Union School of Art and has beC'n a visiting art critic al HISD. Slw has had l'\hibitions in Madrid, New Zt'aland, :\lpw DPlhi, thC' .\.I� Callery , in Cle•wland, 011, Lisa SC'lll' Calll'n , in .

ScottsdalC'. AZ and \\'l'her Stale UnivNsity, Ogde•n. UT. I lammond livl's and works in the Lower East Side' with hC'r husband and two childrt'n.

KIKI SMITH

Kiki Smith, an artist, has lived and worked in th<' East \'illagC' and Lower East Side for thC' last 30 y<'ars. Jn tlw late 1970s and e•arly 1980s shC' was a nH'rllh<'r or Collaborative ProjC'cts Inc. Smith has taught printmaking and drawing in various schools includ­ ing Cooper Union, New York University and Columbia Univ('rsity. Smith has collaboratC'd with various poets and writers, including .Mei-Mei BC'rsscnbnrgge. LynnC' Tillman and Susanna MoorC'.

Smith's work is represented in several New York museL11ns including the �lclro­ politan Museum of' Art, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and the Museurn of' Modern Art whC're she had an exhibition C'ntitlC'd Prints, Books, and Things in 2003. A trnve•ling rC'trospective organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Kiki Smith: A Gathering, 1980-200.5, will culminalC' in thC' Fall of 2006 at the Whitn<'y y( useum of' Anwrican Art. In 2000, the• Skowhegan School of Painting and SculpturC' awarded hC'r with thC'ir prestigious Skowlwgan �ledal for Sculpture. She was elected to the /\mC'rican /\cade•rn) of' Arts and Lc•tte•rs. :,,.JY in 2005, and most rC'cently the Hhode Island School of' DC'sign honored hN with the Athena Award f'or Excellence in Printmaking.

Kiki Smith has beC'n rc•prc•se•nted by PaccWilclC'nslein since' 1994.

CUE ART FOUNDATION MISSION CUE Art Foundation, a non-profit organization. provides

educational programs for young artists and aspiring art professionals in Nl'w York and from

around the country. Thesl' programs draw on thl' 11niquc cornmunity of artists. critics. and educa­

tors brought together by the Foundation ·s Sl'ason of exhibitions, public lectures. and its in-gall(•ry st11clio program. Calll'f)' internships and stipends afford the nPxl genPralion of art professionals intimate, working knowll'dgl' of the art-making and exhibition procpsses. CUE's 2000 sq. ft. f

gallery and of icPs, locatc•d in :'-Jl'w York's Chl'lsea gallery district, ser\'C'S as thC' base' for thC' various Pducational programs concluctC'CI by CUE.

The Foundation ·s exhibition SC'ason gives unknown or undcr-rc•cognizl•d artists

proft•ssional Pxposurc comparable to that offprpd by npighboring commercial gallcriC's, without thl' usual financial rPslraints. CUE doC's not promotp a particular school of artistic practice or

regional bias; we• only rC'quirP that c;,,hibiting artists must cilhC'r not have had a solo exhibition in a comnH·rcial vc•1111c•, or havP rp ccived minimal recent p11blic expos11n•.

CU E's Advisory Council, an ho1;orary group of artists and leading figures from

the arts ed11cation, applied arts. art history, and litera1)' communities, has thC' responsibility

of selPcling l'Xhibition c11rators. The curators. in turn, nominall' artists lo C',hibit al CUE. and

contin11P to play a rok• throughout thl' P\hibition procPss, helping the artists catalogue their work for exhibition. Both tlw t\lkisor)' Council and the exhibition curators aclhPly participate in the public lectures and ed11cational programs.

CUE Art Foundation is supported 1n part by publ<c funds from the New York Department of Cultural Affairs. and the New York State Council on the Arts through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Experimental Television Center Valene Hammond·s exhib1t1on received support from the Lower Manhattar Cultural Council's Manhattan Community Arts Fund and Matthew Garso� of M% Gallery. Cleveland. OH. ISBN 0-9776417-2·4 All artwork Valene Hammond Photos andywa1nnght.com Catalog des,gned by E 1zabeth Ellis

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gregor)· t\rnpnoff

ThC'odore S. BC'rgC'r Patricia Caesar

Thomas C. Devinc Thomas K. Y. 11s11 Brian D. StarPr

ADVISORY COUNCIL Gregory t\mpnoff

\ \'illiam Corlx•tt J\kg Cranston

Vernon Fisher J\lalik Caines

DPborah K,t�s

I 1,ing SancllC'r

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Jc·rC'nty Adams

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Elaine Bowpn

PROGRAMS COORDINATOR BcatricC' \\'olC'rt-\\'ccsP

PROGRAMS ASSISTANT Kara Smith

ISBN 0-9776417-2-4

2005/6

9 780977 641727

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