ArtFiction: Ten Fictional Modernists from Texas

Transcription

1 ArtFiction: Ten Fictional Modernists from Texas Curated by Rino Pizzi John M. O Quinn Gallery Participating writers: Janis Bergman-Carton, Edward Carey, Annette DiMeo Carlozzi, Robert Faires, Pete Gershon, Saundra Goldman, Steve Harrigan, Kurt Heinzelman, Kirk Lynn, Mary Mikel Stump and Katie Robinson Edwards Participating artists: Leon Alesi, Stella Alesi, Brett Brookshire, Jules Buck Jones, Rick Mansfield, Amy Morrow, Jana Swec, Liz Ward, Steve Wiman, Caroline Wright and Sydney Yeager Participating actors: Jennifer Balkan, Florinda Bryant, Cami Calys, Teresa Elliott, Van Harrison, William Hoover, Jeff Mills, Amy Morrow, Nadine Mozon, Jason Phelps and William Tucker ArtFiction is a collaborative project I developed over the last two years and involves exchanges between writers, visual artists and actors/performers. This project addresses a broad range of cultural perspectives on the relations between art production and critical narratives and the effect of artists biographies on the public perception of their work. Ten writers were invited to write about ten fictional Texas artists supposed to be living and working any time between the 1940 s and the early 1980 s. Ten actual artists responded by creating work that could be attributed to the imagined artists, and ten actors sat for photographic portraits of the fictional

2 personas. Ten actors studied the biographies and impersonated the artists for photo sessions in photographic styles current with their time and consistent with their personas. There are two distinct contexts for ArtFiction. One relates to the historical experience of art--its institutions, its established professional and intellectual cultures, its modes of production and circulation, and the conflicting claims in terms of value, authorship and historical relevance. The second is specific to the cultural landscape and the communities where the project will be presented. In the broad landscape of Texas modern art history, the narratives of the various fictional artists are meant to create a symbolic counterpart to the actual historical experience, which to date is still far from being fully researched and assessed. A catalog for this exhibition is available for purchase.

3 Checklist Industrial Construction #3, x 16 For Chubby Jackson, 1974 Photograph of lost work 4 x 3 Klactovestedstene, 1975 Photograph of lost work 4 x 3 Bouillie Oil and Spices, 1958 Oil and spices on linen 24 x 20 Bouillie Oil and Ground Ginger, 1962 Oil and ground ginger on linen 24 x 20 Grackle #5, x 16 Grackle #32, 1951 Grackle #134, 1957 Grackle #334, 1960 Grackle #451, x 12 Grief Exercise No. 2, 1986 Found objects, notions, wood and thread Grief Exercise No. 7, 1986 Found objects, notions, wood and thread Grief Exercise No. 274, 1990 Found objects, metal, thread and wire There Is A Sacredness In Tears, 2015 Found objects, fabric, metal and thread 5 x 2 The Sudden Threshold of Seeing, 2005 Found objects, fabric, wood and thread 14 x 10 Trip to Chinquapin #3, Courtesy Kirk Hopper

4 Trip to Chinquapin #1, Trip to Chinquapin #4, Trip to Chinquapin #12, Courtesy Kirk Hopper Trip to Chinquapin #5, Trip to Chinquapin #7, Trip to Chinquapin #2, Courtesy of Leila McConnell and Henri Gadbois, Houston, Texas Trip to Chinquapin #10, Courtesy of Leila McConnell and Henri Gadbois, Houston, Texas Trip to Chinquapin #7, Florian Kundert Blue Boule, 1947 Watercolor 15 x 10 R. Ronald Musgrave Paleo/Piscine Pathology Playset, circa x 4 Collection of Jeanne and Michael Klein, Courtesy Annette DiMeo Carlozzi I ll lead you if you guide them, 1975 Acrylic and ink on panel 15 ½ x 15 ½ Waiting, 1982 Acrylic on panel 15 ½ x 15 ½ Left Right Behind You, 1976 Acrylic and Ink on panel 27 x 34 Photographs (All Photographers unknown unless otherwise noted.), 1951, 1975, Photo by Professor Michael Smith Bouillie in her studio, 1959 Dinner party at Bouillie, 1959 Batsheva, 1973 Batsheva at work, Loft Series, in London, 1939 in Austin, Texas, 1947, 1974

5 Florian Kundert, 1931 R. Ronald Musgrave, 1987 in her studio, 1959 Faye Renaldo, 1972 Faye Renaldo s performance at local Pharmacy, 1971 Faye Renaldo and two unknown collaborators before street theater performance, circa 1973 Faye Renaldo mugshot, Austin, TX, 1974 Faye Renaldo mugshot, Austin, TX, 1975 Faye Renaldo s campus performance, 1970, 1985 Bio Rino Pizzi is a photographer and independent curator living and working in Austin, TX. From his early experiments in portraiture, Rino Pizzi developed fundamental ideas for his concept of collaborative art. Rather than considering a photographic image as the point of arrival of his creative process, he regards photography as an open medium, available by its nature to further processes and transformation, from becoming the raw material for different media, to standing as a focal point for conceptual work that demands the intervention of other modes of authorship. His recent collaborative projects include The Mona Lisa Project (2011), transfiguration (2013), and Visitors (2013). Rino Pizzi s work has been exhibited at the Austin Museum of Art (now The Contemporary Austin), the Grand Rapids Art Museum and Lewis Carnegie Gallery (Austin, TX). Acknowledgements ArtFiction was possible thanks to the support of The City of Austin, Cultural Arts Division, The Center for Women and Their Work, The Contemporary Austin, Lawndale Art Center, Pentagram, and the following individuals: Teresa Elliott, Bill Nemir, Nancy Wilson Scanlan, David and Ellen Berman, Patty Olwell, Sue Lambe, Margaret Keys, Valerie Chaussonnet, Renee Trepagnier, and Anna Carroll. A special thanks to those who have helped the development of the project with their generous encouragement and in-kind donations of their time and resources: Bill Haddad, Nau s Drugstore, Fado Irish Pub, The Theater and Dance Department of the University of Texas at Austin, Facepainting by Arvis, Pecha Kucha, Lana McGilvray, Billy Baschnagel, Susan Taylor, Thomas Evans, Susan and Jahsenta Brewer, Chris Lambe, Jordan Gasc, Jonathan Pascoe, Dave Wight, Butch Lawson, Bill Nemir, Valerie Chaussonnet, Hal Strickland, Lisa Auchincloss, Conor Lambe, and Don and Lori Wade.