T H E
B A R N
P R O J E C T : 2
Shining Mountain : 12.5.14 - 1.8.15
A S P E N
The Barn Project The Barn Project, established in 2014 by founding principals Julie Harvey & Michael Liener (of Harvey Art Projects and Aurobora respectively), aims to broaden the dialogue between traditional and contemporary art cultures by exploring connections and cultivating the common turf that continues to change and shift between artistic visions current in the art world. In doing so, The Barn Project’s mission is to highlight not only the universality of contemporary art but to emphasize the intriguing intersections as they emerge and take root. A barn-raising is a collective action of a community in which a space for one of the members is built collectively by members of the community. It is collaboration coupled with vision that precipitates positive change. And likewise, it is through collaborative effort among artist communities that art becomes a stepping stone for social engagement, for altering calcified conceptions, for shifting global viewpoints, and ultimately for a regenerative shift in perception. In this spirit, The Barn Project fuses the artistic vision of contemporary artists from around the world, including indigenous art movements rarely seen in the context of contemporary international exhibitions. Over the course of each calendar year, The Barn Project facilitates a select number of programs where invited artists from the venue’s host country exhibit alongside international and indigenous artists. This confluence of expression and experimentation opens a window of observation which allows for seeing invisible connections. It is the fidelity of these collaborative efforts that are both at the heart of the creative process and the essential components in the ongoing international exhibitions generated by The Barn Project.
Shining Mountain : 12.5.14 - 1.8.15 The mountains stretch away, the cloud mountains and the green mountains - Charles Wright When contemporary art is exhibited alongside art from an indigenous culture there is a visual reawakening. A light is cast that illuminates a pristine, unexpected way of seeing that both shifts perceptions and pivots expectations. The exhibition title --Shining Mountain-- is a metaphorical landscape that allows a viewer to see things differently from an unaccustomed place. This “place” is not a geographical location nor is it emotional terrain; it is not a psychological nor a visionary dreamscape. In this exhibition, “place” is defined as “change”. The curatorial focus for Shining Mountain is to expose the bones of what has come before, how it looks in the “still” moment of today, and what provocative concepts “place” holds for the future. Some artists featured in this exhibition have taken the idea of “place/change” and have translated it literally, conceptually and traditionally; others have used “place/change” as a springboard to deconstruct, reconstruct, redefine or restore. The sources each artist draws upon are themselves evolving and their compositions are caught in that “still” moment of the present. Indigenous people have learned to cope with physical displacement and over time learned to understand change as a normal, fluid part of existence. Through this lens, their visual stories find deeper tap-roots into cultural ancestry. In contemporary culture, artists have operated on the margins and this displacement from the social center has allowed them a critical vantage point--an essential distance--to operate as visionaries and master the alchemy of change as they raise a mirror. The hope is that this collaborative curatorial exhibition allows the viewer to negotiate cultural distances and construct unexpected visual connections that transcend expectations and welcome a new way of seeing under a shining mountain.
“I travelled around this place as young woman walking through the sand dunes...we didn’t have clothes then.” - Weaver Jack
“I am a gardener. I take care of plants. It’s a way of meditating. Painting is a meditation. I use colors and shapes that grow out of my culture. I paint beauty...that’s why I paint. I live miracle by miracle.” - Gustavo Ramos Rivera
“My father’s country rockhole is called Dulu. At this place are lots of Dingoes living there, digging up water...Pukara is my grandfather’s country. This is where Watersnake fell down and his elbow makes indent in the landscape.”
- Jimmy Donegan
“There is hope in change. You can see it in the land.”
- LoopmasterM
“Wititj lives among the waterlillies, causing ripples and rainbows on the surface of the water...” - Malaluba Gumana
“One day at the local thrift store in Sitka, Alaska, I came across a remarkable pair of old work boots--the kind used by fisherman in sub-zero degree weather. I found myself staring at these boots in absolute and simple amazement.”
- Mark Eanes
“When the ngintaka died it turned to stone and became the mountain.”
- Ronnie Tjapaltjarri
“...on a dirt road you learn improvisation is change, a necessity, and everything that blows on by reflects some hidden potential...”
- LoopmasterM
“...story of Emu & Bush Turkey change and always stay same...”
- Carlene Thompson
“I don’t have rules for myself...I want to keep everything inward and reverential.” - Joanne Greenbaum
“This is sharp, stony country...grinding ochre and charcoal and rubbing into the canvas with my hands.”
- Lena Nyadbi
“When you relocate it is essential to find a new language to express ideas that are characterized by their dichotomies: decay vs. expansion, organic vs. synthetic, hard vs. soft, black vs. white...”
- Fraser Taylor
“Group of young woman camp at this rockhole, make nose bones before travelling east to gather desert raisins from the small shrubs.”
- Yukultji Napangati
“I’m always looking for tools to make heterogenous marks...it’s an ongoing process to find my own visual language...”
- Pia Fries
PAIR 1 Weaver Jack Untitled Acrylic on Belgian linen 44” x 66”
Gustavo Ramos Rivera Untitled Monotype w/ handwork on Lanaquarelle paper 42” x 60”
PAIR 2 Jimmy Donegan Pukara Acrylic on Belgian linen 42” x 36”
PAIR 3 Malaluba Gumana Dhatam Earth pigments on bark 23” x 15”
LoopmasterM Untitled (or Flat White Hope) Acrylic and tape on bound packaging material 34.5” x 32”
Mark Eanes Procession Of All Things Monotype on Arches paper 29” x 21”
PAIR 4
Ronnie Tjampinjinpa Untitled Acrylic on Belgian linen 48” x 60”
LoopmasterM Untitled (or Faded Carpet Sequence) Diptych acrylic on paper mounted on birch panels 56” x 77.5”
PAIR 5
Carlene Thompson Kalaya Ngura Acrylic on canvas 48” x 33”
Joanne Greenbaum Untitled Monotype w/ gouche and transfer on BFK Rives paper 39.75” x 30”
PAIR 6 Lena Nyadbi Untitled Natural ocher and pigments on canvas 35” x 35”
Fraser Taylor Tracking #2 Monotype on Rives BFK paper 28.75” x 42.5”
Pia Fries Engraving - Schwarz Blumen, A7 Monotype w/ handwork on cardboard 24” x 34.5”
Pia Fries Engraving - Schwarz Blumen, A6 Monotype w/ handwork on cardboard 24” x 34.5”
PAIR 7 Yukultji Napangati Untitled Acrylic on Belgian linen 60” x 48”
www.thebarnproject.org | info@thebarnproject.org JULIE HARVEY - WWW.HARVEYARTPROJECTS.COM - INFO@HARVEYARTPROJECTS.COM - 208 309 8676 MICHAEL LIENER - WWW.AUROBORA.COM - MONOTYPE@AUROBORA.COM - 415 546 7880