To Fade And Spill Out And (And Look At Another's Whole)

​

a two month curatorial project by Jamie Felton and Zachary Rawe.

Fjord is pleased to announce the second element of Jamie Felton and Zachary Rawe's curatorial project To Fade And Spill Out And (And Look At Another's Whole). 

This exhibition brings together work by Emily Davidson, Angela Dufresne, Kristina Lee, and Matt Morris. Along with the opening reception, February 7th, Fjord will be hosting an artist discussion with Chicago based artist Matt Morris facilitated by Suzanne Seesman on Saturaday, February 15th. The artists that comprise this exhibition create works that challenge historical representations of the figure.

 

Building on the month of January's investigation into pure abstraction, February focuses on the implications of artistic gestures when applied to the figure. Often these artists explore figure painting alongside abstraction to create fluid subjects, that are informed by the way aesthetics can control our understanding of the body. Often these artists make reference to historical movements within art, allowing the past influences to be seen. However these artists seek to develop a debate with the past as to create clear separation for the present; denying a relationship with the past in which we are simply its artifacts. 

 

In their own way, the artists in this exhibition acknowledge the lingering impact of the past on the present and attempt to disallow a particular mode of lingering that results in a lack of authorship. For her part, Davidson is presenting a series of expressive paintings that depict female hands in signage, calling attention to a disconnect that exists between slick advertisement and physical reality. Dufresne will be displaying two paintings that allow for brushstrokes to render anonymous and androgynous subjects, facilitating a representation of the figure that is more concerned with it's fluidity in nature than it's individualism or gender. Dufresne will also be exhibiting a video that depicts herself singing Nico's, 'My Only Child.' Kristina Lee will be presenting a series of works that take cues from modernist depictions of the figure, calling specific attention to the flattening of the figure and it's ability to comically thematize individuals. Morris approached Fjord as a site for multiple interventions, employing strategies that expand on Fjord's identity as an autonomous art gallery. For example, one component of Morris' involvement is adding Fjord to the gay cruising sites Scruff and Grindr, altering Fjords presence in the area by adjusting the possibility for subjects and audiences yet to come. The artists representing this exhibition create paintings, videos, and interventions that are informed by history while also occupying a desire to broaden the scope of how we understand our (and others) physicality whether it be pointing to the depiction of our bodies in advertisement; repurposing aesthetic tools in modernism; allowing for the depiction of figures to be freed of individual identity; or adjusting the ready-made presence of a space to account for a different function and audience. 

 

In conjunction with the exhibition, Tuesday 11th 3:00-5:00 pm, Wednesday 12th 1:00-4:00 pm, Suzanne Seesman with The Midnight St. Claire will be hosting the one i love: valentines for our intellectual and artistic sweethearts. The events will operate as open hours in the gallery for anyone to come and make valentine cards for their favorite artist, theorist, or thinker. The valentines will be documented and posted on The St. Claire website for Valentines Day.