Red Herring
RED HERRING
August 2012
FJORD is pleased to announce its fourth group show, Red Herring, curated by Sean Robert FitzGerald. Red herring is a term originally (and fittingly, perhaps falsely) etymologically attributed to a technique used in training hunting dogs to follow a scent without being distracted. In the realm of logic, a red herring is a fallacy involving an impertinent piece of information that misleads or distracts from the task at hand.
The works in this show have been placed together to invoke a dialogue around the use of the figure in contemporary painting, and to provide a sort of liberating red herring. The impulse to ascribe a false universal intention to the works is averted, and instead the viewer is encouraged to contemplate a range of possible dialogues amongst them. The viewer is free to follow his or her own trails of thought, find relationships, get distracted, run off in other directions. An image is a signifier as malleable as any other- this show is intended to provide an opportunity to reference one’s individual experience, and indulge in paint’s unique ability to invoke pleasure.
Essay by: Jennie Sears
Red Herring on Title Magazine: http://www.title-magazine.com/2012/08/red-herring/