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1 Compound Vision CONTENTS 5 IN THE NOW: Mills College MFAs 2013 Melissa Feldman 9 Evan Barbour 12 Claire Colette 16 Lauren Douglas 21 Keegan Luttrell 24 Nadja Eulee Miller 29 Barbara Obata 32 Meri Page This catalogue is published on the occasion of Compound Vision an exhibition organized by the Mills College Art Museum showcasing the work of the MFA Class 37 Simon Pyle of 2013, Evan Barbour, Claire Colette, Lauren Douglas, Keegan Luttrell, Nadja Eulee Miller, Barbara Obata, Meri Page, Simon Pyle, Jenny Sharaf, Kate Short and Katy Warner. The exhibition was presented at 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA, 94613, 40 Jenny Sharaf May 4th through May 25th, 2013. 44 Kate Short © 2013 Mills College Art Museum, 5000 MacArthur Boulevard, California, 94613, mcam.mills.edu. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission. 48 Katy Warner The Mills College Art Museum is a forum for exploring art and ideas and a laboratory for contemporary art practices. As a teaching museum at a dynamic liberal arts college for undergraduate women and co-ed graduate studies, the museum is dedicated to engaging and inspiring the intellectual and creative life of Mills students through innovative exhibitions, programs, and collections. This exhibition is supported through the generosity of Bill and Wendy Hull Brody ‘68. All photography is courtesy of Phil Bond, www.philbondphotography.com and Keegan Luttrell. The class of 2013 would like to thank the Museum Staff and the Mills Art Department and Faculty for their support and guidance. 2 3 In the Now: Mills College MFAs 2013 By Melissa E. Feldman Perusing the work of this year’s studio and the laboratory. Page’s of seeing—and remembering—life MFA graduates, it struck me meticulously crafted environments through excessive documentation how attuned these eleven artists made from sand, salt, soil, raw effect the experience of time, are to the world around them. pigments, and cyanotype, could presentness, and awe? Cropped Their works seemed remarkably be mistaken for—especially in so as to appear infinite and usually extroverted and intentional. You their final form as photographs— shown as fragments in groupings, will find no diaristic outpourings microscopic geological samples Douglas’s photographs aim to or abstract expressionism here. and vast satellite views. Her reinstill these familiar scenes with There is no open-ended process photographs operate in a no man’s a sense of wonder. art devoted to unconditional land between abstraction and exploration of materials. While representation that is made more This line of inquiry continues their inner lives might color disorienting by shifts in scale in the work of Simon Pyle who their efforts or provide a point and perspective. Like Barbour’s takes digital photography, as he of departure, it is contemporary miniature sculptural specimens says, “to the point of annihilation.” culture and politics that drives fashioned from natural and He corrupts digital images by the form and content of their artificial materials, these hybrids recopying jpegs thousands of work. The grass roots and “slow” also engage the long-standing times, until the image becomes movement, environmentalism, dialogue on reality versus abstracted and possesses the the impact of technology, and fantasy—or versus simulacra— surprisingly abject quality of new artistic tendencies embracing that has been reinvigorated by rust or compost. Abstracted collaboration, interdisciplinary virtual reality. reality is also the basis of the and the self-taught, among other work of Claire Colette and Kate currents of the day, all show up in The allusions to the natural Short. These artists focus on their work. sublime in Page’s photographs the metaphysics of perception come to fore in Lauren Douglas’s through meditative abstractions Evan Barbour’s work alludes work. Her dreamy photographs and sound works, respectively. to the fears around genetic isolate iconic views such as the Colette’s minimalist drawings modification and industrial night sky, the sea, and towering in graphite on white paper farming. In his decorative evergreens in a manner that derive from the graphic patterns photographs, real squid and reflects their inspiration in both found in seismic recordings, seaweed lay strewn in colorful 19th century romanticism and heartbeat monitor printouts, and pools of real paint; elsewhere, modern science. At the same radio frequencies. An abstract, insects swarm over candy colored time, these somewhat casual handmade representation morsels. Meri Page similarly shots remind me of smart phone of ceaseless physical and combines the materials of the art snapshots. How might this habit metaphysical forces beyond 4 5 sensory perception, the works also environments intended to give partner on collaborative drawings reflect the formal elegance of these the viewer a taste of these heady set to music using a tripodal easel phenomena. Short rigs up her experiences. The latter comprises around which the dancing drawers towers of stacked speakers to form a claustrophobic hallway with a circulate and add successive marks. intimate theaters of sound. In her glass ceiling containing a floating Seminal feminist artists such as latest piece, however, the speakers parachute resembling moving Barbara Kruger and Hannah Wilke issue frequencies so low that they clouds. railed against the representation are not perceptible audibly, only of women in the media and its physically as a vibration. Like A new artistic genre known as impact on societal attitudes towards Colette, she experiments with social practice eschews the creation women and female identity itself. transcriptions of geophysical reality of objects in favor of instigating Jenny Sharaf might speak for the at the outer edges of experience. communal events and experiences. current generation of women These situational forms of art when she describes feminism Today’s talent emerges from not making involve the participation as “an unfinished revolution.” only from MFA shows and Juilliard of others, be they gallery visitors, Installations of minimalist recitals but also from YouTube colleagues, or invited guests. Pop-style paintings in shades of and American idol. Likewise, the Barbara Obata’s work seems to have pink and orange topped by a blonde boundaries that once separated absorbed some of these tendencies. wielding a pistol, Bridget Bardot in amateur or “outsider” artists from Often collaborative in nature, she black face, and an entrancing video those with a formal education are approaches art making as a shared of kaleidoscopic blondes in bathing fading. (Such artists are particularly experience or a game to be played suits cannily yet mysteriously prevalent in the Bay Area, home with others. Or as a job to get done: manipulate stereotypes and styles. of three internationally acclaimed a drawing is accompanied by a art centers for artists with physical container of brooms and other tools Art is a continually evolving, ever and mental disabilities including fitted with charcoal tips that serves changing entity that reflects on its Oakland’s Creative Growth as her drawing utensils. Like all generational era. Aesthetics and Center.) Katy Warner’s work her materials, these are handmade virtuosity aside, artistic production reflects these new attitudes towards from scavenged material. Another is material culture, a sign of the art and artists. Her installation installation-cum-communal action times. This year’s MFAs seem to features the studio apartment consists of rustic setting for a book have grasped their role as purveyors of Maxine Heeding, a made-up group with the reading material of the cultural moment. They fulfill reclusive fantasy writer—not left on chairs and a dressed, seated it with curiosity and clear-eyed to mention the artist’s alias in a mannequin awaiting discussants. purpose. common feminist trope—addicted to candy and People magazine. Feminist art with its collapsing of Her cosmic chalkboard drawings boundaries separating disciplines and philosophical jottings share such as craft, dance, and fine art the space with second-hand played a significant role in the furniture and personal effects. current interdisciplinary of artistic Keegan Luttrell parachuted out practice. These ideas seem to have of an airplane to research the trickled down to the work of Nadja work for the show. Her dare- Eulee Miller. Her references range devil artistic process seems to from ballroom dancing (Miller’s relate to the fashion for extreme other profession) to cakes in experiences popularized by reality eccentric mediums including the television shows. Both her video outdated slide show and large- and architectural installation scale ceramics. She and Obata offer unfamiliar, disorienting have collaborated with a third 6 7 Evan Barbour Trained as a naturalist and a biological illustrator, I have experience rendering animals – mostly birds and insects – through finely detailed paintings. As an artist, I now focus on crafting biomorphic sculptures, photographs and paintings of imagined organisms that are realistic enough to be believed while also referring to a world of genetic mutations and modifications. Whether derived from fungal, botanical or zoological forms, each piece is part of an ecosystem – it is part of something greater than itself. While the rigorous attention to detail inherent to my process is rooted in scientific research, I make a string of subjective transformations along the way that only makes sense as