Tag Archives: exhibition

Exhibition Opening Saturday: Making Masters 2014

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The writing is on the wall, literally. This weekend a group of artists from UGA’s MFA program and I drove down to Madison, Georgia to install Making Masters 2014 at the Madison Museum of Fine Art. The ten artists in the show work in different media and themes, so it was exciting to bring their pieces together and see how they responded to each other. As the curator I had tried to imagine how the artworks would look in the space for weeks, so it was really satisfying to see them on the wall.

We also had our first visitors. A small school group appeared just as we were putting on the final touches, and the children got to ask the artists questions about their work, such as “Where do you get your ideas for an artwork from?” or “How do you know it’s good enough to be in a museum?” Going right for the jugular! More questions like that are heartily welcomed. The exhibition is open to the public this coming Saturday, September 27. Even better, join us on October 11 from 4 to 6 pm for a reception.

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Mladen Stilinovic Opening at eflux

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Installation shot of Autocensorship from “Mladen Stilinović: Zero for Conduct; A retrospective,” 2013

I loved seeing that eflux in NYC has an exhibition opening of the Croatian avant-garde artist this Friday, because his retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb was a fantastic show. I wrote about the retrospective here, and specifically about the artist’s books on view here.

Image from Artist at Work, 1977

Image from Artist at Work, 1977

Artists are stereotypical bohemians who create when inspired, rather than being industrious citizens, and the photograph above is from his seminal series The Artist At Work, which shows Stilinovic sleeping and lounging in bed. This is not an unpoliticized act, or mere commentary on such stereotypes, as Stilinovic suggests in his text “In Praise of Laziness.”

An Artist Who Cannot Speak English, 1994

An Artist Who Cannot Speak English Is No Artist, 1994

The eflux exhibition is up through May 31, but at the opening this Friday the artist will be in conversation with Ana Janevski and Dan Byers. Based on his witty, ironic written texts, such as materialized in the more recent work above, I imagine it will be an interesting conversation if you are in New York.

Recovered (almost) from the BORDERS Exhibition

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The artists, co-curator, and myself at the exhibition opening

Back from Berlin, and feeling like I have finally caught up on my sleep after a long week installing, opening, and taking down BORDERS, the group exhibition I curated with Trevor Amery. It was such an interesting process curating this virtually. Between this blog and my current work, much of my life is online, so to speak, but organizing an art exhibition in Berlin from my computer in Budapest took it to the next level. Also, my co-curator, who lives in a different city in Hungary, and I would Skype and email to make up for the few in-person meetings. Yet somehow it all came together–and it’s hard to imagine how it could have gone smoother.

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BORDERS was a group show featuring the work of nine artists working throughout Europe, from Greenland to Turkey. Hanging all the works–with the inevitable changes and challenges once you saw them in the space–was such a fun process. Seeing the gallery space for the first time, meeting the artists, installing their works all had the joy of discovery, as well as the feeling of finally meeting old friends.  And seeing old and new friends from the US, Berlin, and many, many other places at the opening was such a rewarding experience. Truly it would not have been possible had it not been such a collaborative effort from all involved. The great guys at Staycation Museum were such a help throughout.

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I only wish I had had the chance to see more of Berlin itself! More photos here and here.