suddenly, i'm in a show....
So, as some of you may know, I've been working with an international group of disability artists and writers (not saying writers aren't artists, but you get the idea) working on community projects related to various topics in their community. (btw, the images in the banner are not mine, but some of the images/art in the show)
The group has a show up in The Gallery Project in Ann Arbor.
I have been involved in video taping and photographing various performances and projects with this group of artists over the last nine months. I was at the gallery all this week (I know, it's only Wednesday, but it seems like Friday) helping to get the show setup. One of the pieces in the show is a group of paintings done by Neil Marcus who is a wheelchair bound poet and visual artist. I was asked to video tape and help photograph one of his painting sessions.
When the pieces he painted were being put up on the walls, the curators thought it would be a wonderful idea for me to include a video segment of his painting the pieces. So, one whirlwind spun into another and viola! I have a piece in the show! It's a 20 minute documentary video I compiled from his painting session and is displayed alongside his paintings. The video is considered a piece of art (and is for sale).
This gives me a "real" gallery exhibit to include on my C.V. for grad schools and helps me be on the path to being considered a practicing artist.
Anyway... long story...
Any folks in Ann Arbor, feel free to stop by
The Gallery Project
215 South Fourth Avenue
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
(http://www.thegalleryproject.com)
and check out the exhibit "Myth of Difference". The show runs through Feb 17, and while you're there make sure to watch my video (it's ok if you don't watch the entire 20 minutes, you won't hurt my feelings, but there will be a quiz afterwards!)
There is an opening reception this Friday night, where many of the artists will be in attendance, along with munchies and beverages. Much of the work in the exhibit is quite incredible, as are many of the artists involved.
--------
from their press release for the show:
Gallery Project presents Myth of Difference, a multi-media exhibit featuring disabled and non-disabled artists whose art reflects the joys and sorrows of being different. The artists move beyond positive images and tokenism to celebrate the depth and heft of being different.
Myths hold truth for us, and yet we shape them anew every time we cite them. They are like crystals. In them we see and feel ourselves differently - refracted and shimmering between individual story and wider cultural image. The seduction of difference asks who sees, who touches, who moves, and what moves beyond. What are the ethics of our encounters with physical, sensorial, mental, and aesthetic difference?
Difference emerges as a multileveled, crystalline experience -- part of a group, all lonely, discriminated against, and aware of the aesthetic opportunities offered through seeing the world with different eyes, moving in it with different bodies, and knowing with a difference.