1708 Gallery

March 7 – 29th

In conjunction with Command Print: The Southern Graphics Council Conference hosted by the VCU Department of Painting and Printmaking

Command Print Reception (open to the public): MARCH 28, 2008, 6-10 PM

Cart Corrals by Matt King

Six artists –Hope Ginsburg, Brian Goeltzenleuchter, Akiko Jackson, Sue Johnson, Matt King, Jack Risley – were chosen to exhibit in this show that speaks of the printing process within a 3D world. This manufacturing of the art object references many of the early minimalists such as Dan Flavin and later object-makers such as Felix Gonzalez-Torres and even Dada – Duchamp’s use of ready-mades as in his Twelve Hundred Coal Bags piece. This exhibit presents the art object in multiples, in the light of mass production, hand made; and opens the dialog of the relationship of printed material to a repetitive process within object making while adding some fun “flavors” for the visual mix.

3D Multiples Press Release – CLICK TO OPEN

“My work brings forth the weathered faces of poverty. The inconsistencies of a homeless man’s life and the fragility of my materials (cardboard), are overshadowed by an enduring friendship and spiritual connection I share with whom I paint. Surrendering my artistic talent to the portrayal of the needy enables me to contribute to the restoration of their lost and broken dignity.”“Putting a name and a face to the disadvantaged moves people closer to the unsettling levels of homelessness found within our affluent community. The extensive color palate and immense scale represents the complexity and value of each individual. My work does not offer an end to poverty. These portraits rest in the possibility that viewers might personally acknowledge these invisible citizens with compassion that moves beyond flipping a coin to a beggar.”

James Dean Erickson is an undergraduate art student at the University of Virginia.

“By separating lips from all connection to the body, I exploited the images, forcing viewers to focus on this sensual and suggestive body part. The abstract qualities take this idea of lips to a whole other level. The grotesque, multitude number and seedy lighting of images adds yet another influence to the viewers’ perception of the piece. “

The photograph below was taken by Rafiya Naim in Pakistan shortly after the riots that followed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto:

Princess

“I am a princess. You are a princess. All girls are.
With girls and myself growing up under the influence of Disney Princess’s, how can one think anything else? Aurora, Jasmine, Belle and Ariel, floating amongst fluffy white clouds and sparkly jewels, are princess’s young girls emulate, dress up and want to be. Transcending and surpassing their status as fictional children story characters; they have risen to a global iconic presence. Their presence has been and will continue impacting generations of girls to come.”

Rafiya Naim is an undergraduate art student at the University of Richmond and will be graduating this year.

The response via e-mail concerning my last post has been wonderful. I’d like to find out more concerning people’s views on how 1708 can best interact with local media and the local Richmond community. At what points specifically between total non-engagement and total engagement should we expend our energies?Is relegating our responses to internal e-mails and this blog closer to the former or the latter? Aren’t we supposed to be challenging people and expanding their thoughts concerning contemporary art?Is this blog the best means to do so? If there are no responses to this post, my guess is no.

“I am interested in sustainability as a difficult and necessary goal: idealistic, yet attainable. I am intrigued by the complexity of a lifestyle that considers its impact on the future of the environment and the people in it. As an expanding movement, sustainable living stresses interconnectivity and cause-and-effect awareness, but it still maintains destructive societal norms such as consumerism. Because sustainability is a relatively new mainstream concept, the movement towards the idea is fraught with many issues and complications.”

“With this as a starting point, I want to construct a body of work that comforts, provokes, and celebrates whimsy. My thesis project has developed into a laterally expanding and constantly readjusting way of moving through and responding to my environment. Making has become my central tool for exploration. I believe that making is a radical act; it provides a thoughtful way of sifting through and playing in the world around us. Furthermore, I think that gallery and display spaces should take an active role in fostering this attitude. It is important that the processes of making, connecting, and questioning continue after the initial installation of an art show. Galleries can function as community centers — places of constructive dialog and skill sharing.”


“I look to process-based works and drawing to suggest conceptual themes in visual and tactile ways. This approach spurs my interest in edifice and materiality—I want to make the constructedness of my work apparent and relatable. It is important for me to build layers, to assemble pieces into a whole in much the same way that individuals come together in a community. Craft, feminism, radical politics, independent music and “do it yourself” ethics are some of the diverse elements that inform my aesthetic choices and methods. I delight in repetitive patterns, 1960′s and 70′s textile designs, and flat fields of color. In addition, I draw inspiration from children’s narratives and illustrators like Maurice Sendak, allowing me to work within imagined worlds. In these places, I can communicate my real-world ideals and questions with the subtlety and the open-endedness of imagination.”

Patrick John Costello is earning his BFA at University of Virginia and works in a variety of mediums, including printmaking, fibers and sculpture.

Above: “Synapse” glass, 2007

The true essence of God, or if there is no god, the truth of this life, this existence is not conceivable to the human mind.  Ho human can know the truth, one can have faith, but no once can have ultimate truth.  What if there was a way to know, to answer the unanswerable question of life?  What if the answer was as close (or as far away) as the end of a simple number? A number with no consecutive pattern, no feasible ending.  An infinite number, Pi.  If one was to fid this ending, could it hold the answer?  One can only wonder. 

Hank West – Undergraduate class of 2010

“Making Waves”- W. Hank West 2006
Three images of my muddling with water
These three images (on display in the Capital One Exhibition) are based in the idea of exerting control in a virtual space. Through digital image manipulation, I place micro-worlds in my hands and insert my influence over them. While they are a little on the megalomaniacal side, I enjoyed working with these ideas and images.

“Pneumatiphonic Drum Piano” – W. Hank West, 2007.
This project exists somewhere between video documentation, sculpture and music. Constructed from materials predominately acquired from hardware stores, this percussion instrument is fueled by pressurized air and handmade pistons striking small drums and other assorted items. By nature of its name and construction, “Pneumatiphonic Drum Piano” is an exercise in overt complexity to facilitate simple input and output.
My desire to explore sound through an instrument constructed from common hardware materials stems from my experience with pneumatics while working on a robotics team in high school and my combined training with electronic keyboard and percussion. This project would not be possible without the support and influence of my parents, professor Jermey Drummond, professor Mark Rhodes, Phil Hayes, my high school physics teacher Timothy Couillard and all my past music teachers.

Pneumatiphonic Piano Drum

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eZHlx6hz5o]

Lucy Marion
Artist Statement

“I find adaptation through mutation necessary and beautiful. I apply mutations to my work and exaggerate certain features to the point of uselessness and absurdity. The object changes from something familiar to a more responsive and strengthened form. My newer work contains the familiar aspects of a house, the shingles and bricks and wooden planks, but they are no longer useful as a dwelling.”

Lucy Marion is an undergraduate artist from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts.
She is from the Department of Craft and Material Studies, and was nominated by her department chair Sonya Clark to be part of this year’s 1708 Gallery Invitational Forum.