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Re: Feedback on Articles
Posted:
Nov 11, 2005 1:27 PM
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> > Jaime
> > Coyote Infinity
> > The Chicano Artist de Minnesota
>
> I keep reading this forum string because like a
> strange sort of novel there is a story here that
> plods along with a mysterious story hidden in it.
>
> Jimmy Longoria
> Chicano Artist de Minnesota
I am commenting on this Article because it illustrates what is wrong with the way in which this feature of the mnartists.org site is "edited".
I am sure Susan is a very fine and credible person, but,...
Susan Clayton visited the "Minnesota Biennial: 2D II," up through December 31 at the Minnesota Museum of American Art at 50 West Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. This juried show winnowed 30 artists out of 500: the results were mixed and interesting.
( she states that she "sat in " on the selection of the artists; She is writing about a show in which she was "in on". She does not write about the Art, she writes about the show. This is what is wrong with the whole of Minnesota Art. It is all inbred and insider dominated.)
It should always be so easy: an hour to oneself, a parking space right in front, and an exhibition for which the usual admission fees are waived.
( were the fees waved for her, or for all?)
Under the watchful eye of the ever-present gallery attendant I wandered alone, taking in the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s Minnesota Biennial: 2D II, third in a series that offers exhibition opportunities to Minnesota artists and the second show featuring work in two dimensions.
( to the insider 15%)
At times during the course of its long and varied history the St. Paul museum had been host to several acclaimed juried exhibition series. For an institution that was at the crossroads in terms of programs and resources in 2000, a return to this kind of tradition seemed a step in a good direction.
( why not tell us the truth: the Museum is teetering on financial colapse; only the intervention of powerful "patrons" will rescue it.)
With roots in the promotion of local artists and a beautiful, if somewhat hidden, exhibition space, the Museum launched a new series celebrating recent Minnesota art. The resulting Minnesota Biennial: 2D 2000 was an attractive sampling of local painting, photography, prints and mixed media.
( which drove away a significan couple of "donors")
In 2002 the MMAA offered Minnesota Biennial: Sculpture and Installation. In both shows, artists both familiar and fresh were exhibited in close proximity to the Museum’s permanent collection of American art in the second-floor galleries of its then home in the venerable Landmark Center. Since that time, the MMAA has relocated to a more visible street-level downtown space.
( a move that further alienated former supporters)
As in 2000, the number of entrants to the biennial this year was around 500, whittled down to not quite 30 who made the installation. For what it’s worth, none of the artists included in the first show are back this year.
( what about the "jury"? were they the same?)
What does an artist get for their twenty-five-buck entrance fee? Aside from a shot at a spot in a show with limited exhibition space, there’s a hint regarding a purchase award “at the discretion of the museum.” One could also make the case that an entrant is casting a vote of confidence in the MMAA’s continued efforts on behalf of local artists.
( for the chosen insider 15% it is a certainty that they will be chosen and for any outsiders it is a certainty that they will "fund" the careers of the insiders)
I had the opportunity to sit in on the jury process for 2D 2000. During that process --and several others that I have experienced--assistants and other bystanders are
{{{{ relatively}}}}
silent as images are presented, except to offer helpful details to the juror on size, media, etc. Artists are generally not identified. In this way jurors can think independently, unhampered by information other than what they can see for themselves.
And this is the real problem with "artists" influenced "jury" programs like the MAEP. Bias is inherent in the way the "staff" manages the "viewing". It invalidates the whole show and drives away credability.
Entering a juried show - and coughing up a fee to do so - is a roll of the dice for even the most accomplished artists: one is at the mercy of the juror’s state of mind on a given day.
( Susan has hit upon the real answer on a "fee" entry; use a throw of the dice!!!)
But the leveler is the fact that usually jurors are chosen from outside the geographic region or sponsoring institution.
( the jurors are "chosen"!!!! And of course they are chosen for thier "qualifications")
Jurors listed for 2D II are Elizabeth Dunbar, Curator of Kansas City’s Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, but also an MMAA associate curator, presumably with knowledge of - and preconceived notions about – the state’s art community. I’m not sure that’s a good idea if the goal is to purely react to work submitted.
( Get real, the problem with these artists cattle calls is that the "jury" quickly comes home with the same old shit that is passed off as Minnesotan when in fact is just Mediocre NYC/Academic wantabes)
I experienced equal parts delight and boredom touring the exhibition. After digesting the somewhat anxious introductory explanation that Minnesota’s artists are worthy of attention and don’t work in a vacuum
( this is the really, really, big problem in the art of Minnesota: gutlessness!!! The Artists with rotting careers continue to fault the viewer/patron for a lack of "attendence" to the offerings of "accomplished" artists. But the truth is why should anyone support Artists that do not believe in themselves enough to boldly take a stand on thier work?)
, I was thankful to encounter Patricia Olson’s Operation Mopping Up installed in the red-walled gallery that leads off the show. In this piece, mixed media panels hanging from a clothesline offer newspaper war stories and a roll call of the dead from both sides of the conflict in Iraq. These are interspersed with painted images of a woman in cowboy boots matter-of-factly mopping a bloody floor. No matter what one’s feelings about the war, the list of dead is long. Olson depicts a mop that is soaked, unwringable.
( and again the failure of Artists to think through thier work is what really hampers any attendence of this show by the Patron community. What meaning is there in a bombastic installation on a topical conversation of the day?)
John F. Diebel makes collaged drawings in a style that suggests the art of graphic novels. Characters with profiles seemingly lifted from Spy vs. Spy are in dressed in garb from a mix of eras. They mill about together around urban structures, coaxing the viewer to concoct a narrative in which the players are identified by their medals, passports, punk chains, Stars of David.
( this is really tragic writing about tragically incompetant work: "suggests", "seemingly", "coaxing", "to concoct". This is what is lacking in the Art of the faux Minnesota Artists; no clear declaration of anything in thier work. The tragic net result of comming out of a "artist degree mill system". Some one needs to tell artists that they must be "real" to the patron/viewer with the meaning of thier work and cut out the "fan dance" of meaning.)
With her pristine acrylics, Alexa Horochowski, too, invites viewers to imagine plots. There must be an explanation for the child couples she depicts in precarious situations, including plenty of iconography as story fodder.
( when will the local critics get around to peeling away the facade of this kind of work? Does the veiwer really come to this kind of work to "imagine" what they are seeing? Hopefully the upcomming Andy sheeeu will open some eyes in the Art community in the futility of this kind of "fan dance" with macabre sexual malladaise{ go see a good therapist, please!!!!}. SEX IS NORMAL!!!)
Giclees from Mickey Smith’s Volume project were fun to find. The clean photographic compositions, most made with existing light in the stacks of Minnesota libraries, monumentalize sets of bound periodicals, or at least their titles.
(When are we going to realise that the new digitalize photo technology will devore "Photography Art" with the ability to let my poodle take a great picture!!)
Carol Lee Chase provides great Minnesota titles for her gently worked oil abstractions: Miles from Nowhere and Ice Cold Ice.
( good god, since when is context; vis a vis the "words" a sustitute for the mastery needed in the "visual art" We need to banish "currators to installation hell!!)
Gregory Euclide’s acrylic on paper How the Island Became the Mainland is the one I would take home. The piece works on many levels, appearing as a swirly, free landscape from afar, the painstakingly rendered, inky details demanding attention on closer approach. Numbered map points, direction arrows and applied elements from the office supply store plot the area, working in conjunction with paint drips. Euclide provides a place to get lost in.
( is that what Art is for? to get lost? and perhaps that is what is really wrong with the whole show: it is for viewers who want to get "lost". That is why these Artists have lost the support of the "Patron". Art that is "lost" is of little value to people who look at the world with the confidence to spend hard earned money on "ART".)
Red walls turn to mauve in the far galleries. In with the really compelling work are other pieces that are merely likable: C-prints of unpeopled places, beginnings of ideas. Welcome didactic notes accompany about half the work, detailing processes such as transfer by sticky tape and drawing with the non-dominant hand. A few pieces suggest that the entry slide might have been better than the work itself.
( when are we as an audience going to get over the "vicarious value syndrone"? You know "can I do that to my work also?". No wonder no one wants to buy "art" craft work! One of my patrons brought it home to me: " I buy your work because I 'know' I can not paint like you do. (Period!!!!) )
Scanning for the artists’ home place I encountered “Minneapolis” on label after label, perhaps accurately locating the densest population of Minnesota’s working artists. Add to that a handful of St. Paulites and a shout out each from Edina, Ely, Northfield and Plymouth, the show technically spans most of the state. The vast majority of featured work is courtesy of the artist, not placed in a gallery or private collection . . . yet.
"And again that is the Problem with this show and many like it; it is a pathetic attempt to lay claim to the "region" with pathetically non regional "artists" who manipulate the "exhibition" to add another line to thier vitae! Art by words, acclaim, recognition is tragically un informed in the history of how art work becomes ART. It must speak to the patron/viewer "who is not an artist wantabbe" This show sucks because it is not a "Minnesota Survey Show" It is an insider club show pretending to be representative of a unique locus; the Midwest Heartland. MPLS artists a a terribly self limiting group who will never get past thier own "career" agendas and find a way to make an "orginal" art. It would really help if "articles" about show would be written with a "critical eye" instead of "puppy dog hugs")
The lovely old galleries in the Landmark provided an excuse to enter that grand old building, adopting the quiet, respectful attitude suggested by polished woodwork and a lingering aura of history. But I like the new, more accessible converted parking garage space, too, and its multiple banners directing “ART HERE.” With its permanent collection in hiding, the MMAA has focused on a succession of enticing shows, but don’t look for the next year’s exhibition schedule on the website. It is unclear how long the Kellogg Street site will be available.
( read a paper Susan! The River View is "Gold" and the site is needed for development. The Museum has to do some really identity check and find a way to get into this century. Downtown Saint Paul with be a "new city" peopled by "older, vibrant, and discerning " "stake holders". BS blurbs by wantabe artist of long listed exhibition wil not convice pepole who can board the next jet to NYC, Paris, and see "global" art in the raw; the local Artist must make his/her work world class in each square inch of the material!!!)
In the meantime the Museum continues its efforts to capture the cutting edge with events such as First Friday art and music happenings. Need more cowbell? Word is that 2D II artists will be clanged offstage when time’s up during slide talks scheduled for November 17 and December 8.
( Cutesy is so old Andy!!!!)
RELATED EVENTS
Slide-o-rama Artist Talks are Thursday, November 17, 7-10pm; and Thursday, December 8, 7-10pm. Be there for rapid-fire presentations by the artists in the show. These are always fascinating occasions, proving that artists really can be interesting.
(Just like the "Trialogues"? Big, Really BIG YAWNER!!!)
Jimmy R. Longoria
Chicano Artist de Minnesota
Coyote Infinity
Social Political Performance Artist of the Heartland
Spent my $25.00 entry fee on my wife!!
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