Gary Sweeney

http://www.robischongallery.com/html/ArtistResults.asp?offset=0&artist=22

Cynthia Back

This artist Cynthia Back is one that I looked at and really liked her work. I think that something like this would be interesting to the environmental aspect of the show. The three images of hers that I picked and especially liked are attatched; what i enjoy about them is the way that Back makes the images have very organic colors and shapes (especially in Cul-de-Sacs), yet they aren't environmentally natural things. Back describes her work as "referencing our changing landscapes; the spread of suburban environments, mining and other industries, the subsequent destruction of habitats, farms and forests and the homogenization and sameness of much of suburban growth, strip malls and roads". I think that something like this could be a good addition!

Steven Hampton

Customs, 2006
Acrylic, oil, and spraypaint on canvas
84in x 72in

“Every day millions of messages hover, competing for our attention. Advertising, movies, television and the Internet produce so much signification that visual hysteria can result. I believe the influence of these media and the cultural signage they produce are always present, floating in our field of vision. The overlapping of these cultural signs borders on ephemerality while constantly contaminating the permanence of the original message. For clarity, images seem to be accompanied by logos or some form of branding. Colors and imagery specific to advertising slide seamlessly into images of entertainment. Entertainment mixes indiscriminately with news. This leaves us in an indeterminate situation, stuck somewhere between sober attention and thoughtless frivolity. My paintings mimic this visual state. Interrogating what makes themselves possible while keeping a sense of comedy and playfulness present, they evoke experiences that are analogous to the way in which we deal with imagery on a daily basis. I explore the possibility of making paintings with an ongoing war in the background.” – Artist’s statement

This piece isn’t directly about immigration, however customs, or the agency that controls what’s brought in and out of the country, also affects the relationship and perception between America and her neighbors. In relation to one of our border countries, Mexico, the drug wars are a critical factor in the surveillance of what is actually being transported back and forth between the US and Mexico. (This piece might be stretching the immigration and border control idea, I just thought it was interesting and the aesthetics appealed to me, especially since I love street art.)

Lior Neiger

Globe, 2003, Video Projection, 3 min. loop
2003
Video

”Globe, 2003, Video Projection, 3 min. loop (the video can be seen: http://www.bu.edu/prc/neiger.htm ) Divided in two, each side of the screen features a globe turning quickly and slowing to a halt. Each time it stops, a random encounter is created between two geographical areas. Tension is thus generated between the representation of reality in each of the two screen parts and the new place created by the juxtaposition of the two, attesting to the potential of border changes, migration of nations, the movement of continents, etc. The work touches upon questions of immigration, occupation, colonialism, globalization, terrorism, arbitrariness, and play (it contains an element of a casino game). The straight dividing line created by the split screen alludes, at times parallels, to straight borders marked in the course of history throughout the world (such as borders between states in the United States and between countries in Africa). The work elicits questions concerning knowledge and orientation (or the lack thereof), confronting us with the realization that between every two spots in the world there is always some kind of connection (whether economic, political, geographical, historical or cultural). If we do not know what that link is, it is only because we, as viewers, lack knowledge about it. Much attention was devoted to the formal and color accord of the geographical combinations, but the idea of the ”unexpected” encounter is nevertheless

Esperanza Mayobre

Immigration Services, 2006
Mixed Media
Dimensions Variable
Faith in Santa Esperanza, the patron of the immigrants, helps illegal immigrants to obtain their needed green card to remain with legal status in the United States. This piece is an installation of candles of the “Virgin of Esperanza (Hope), Mother of Immigrants” with passport, greencard and money in her hand; aligned inside a wall niche. Beside the wall is a pedestal where you can acquire the Legitimate Dust of Virgin of Esperanza for 25 cents. This dust works eliminating illegal immigrants by spraying it.

“Detail of hand holding passport, money and greencard. At the back of the candle you will find the Prayer of Virgin of Esperanza, Mother of the Immigrants: I come here to implore you help with confidence, that because of your divine motherhood you will hear the prayers of this poor immigrant. Intercede for me, so that your divine son the United States of American will grant the Citizenship for which I now pray. Hail Mary full of grace, etc.”

Enrique Chagoya

"The Pastoral or Arcadian State, Illegal Alien's Guide to Greater America": 2006
Color lithograph : 23 3/4 x 39" : Ed. 30 : $3200

“Enrique Chagoya has created a pastoral pastiche based on George Caleb Bingham's painting "Jolly Flatboatmen" and an Albert Bierstadt painting of the American West. It is a commentary on current immigration concerns with the scene populated by a diverse mix of characters. Using images appropriated from many sources, Chagoya has combined the heads from some images with bodies from others. He has Border Patrol officers with Indian headdresses and businessmen with turbans. He has drawn Humpty Dumpty as the Lone Ranger and many smaller figures appear in the background. Many of the characters have cartoon “bubbles” quoting “artspeak”....in this context the quotes become a satirical self-criticism of the print and its imagery.
“The Pastoral or Arcadian State: Illegal Alien’s Guide to Greater America” is a thirteen color lithograph printed from 10 plates on handmade Amate paper 23_ x 39” in an edition of 30, plus proofs.”

Margarita Cabrera – “Immigrant Backpacks”

Every piece in these works are handcrafted by Cabrera. Everyday items that everyone uses, such as the wallets, rosary, bread, are combined with pliers and a first aid kit to symbolize the journey of the immigrants. I feel these pieces force the viewer to see the “immigrants” as actual people, just like themselves. They make a clear point that resonates with me.

Frida Kahlo “Self Portrait on the Border”

I know this is insane to even think we could acquire a Kahlo piece for the show but I wanted to show this piece because it shows a different side of the situation on the border. Kahlo loved Mexico and considered it to be the promise land and her inspiration for many of her paintings. America to her on the other hand only brought pain and misery to her existence (she was in the hospital for large part of her stay in Detroit). In this painting it shows Mexico as a wonderland of fertility, culture, and beauty, while the United States looks like a cold desolate wasteland of machinery. I think this differing opinion in any work would be a welcome change to the idea that America is the “promise land”.

Dave Anderson

His photography borders on the documentary style but it also has a gripping emotional value to it. He has focused his work on several places within the U.S. rural area including many parts of Texas. He has also worked on a series called “Tough Beauty” a series about Vidor, Texas about its history and the citizens now. In Artlies he did a series with photographs and what seems to be personal quotes of Texas residents fighting for an unforgiving border control. He shows the opinion of Texans who strongly agree that the border should be closed and the illegal immigrants should be kicked out of the country.

Lori Nix “The Fence”

Lori Nix’s work focuses mainly on the eerie and disastrous. Her photographs take on this eerie quality because of the way she stages the entire thing with miniature sized models and scene sets. She started working with Kansas her personal environment and her own memories from childhood. She has now spread to the problems that are happening in America. The eerie quality of her work and the subject matter of “The Fence” give the U.S. border a quality of an unknown territory waiting to be crossed into.

Chuck Ramirez “Coconut Series”

This work alludes to the sentiment of being bi-cultural. He used the racial slur “coconut” to come up with an all too literal image of a coconut cut in half. This image conveys his background as a Mexican American and not fully fitting in with either culture because of their prejudices about the other culture. “Ramirez isolates and recontextualizes familiar objects and texts to explore the human condition. Always personally relevant, Ramirez has explored cultural identity, mortality and consumerism through his photographs and installations. The images in his 1997 series, Coconut, slyly subverted stereotypes of those who cross cultural boundaries.”

http://www.finesilver.com/Artist-Info.cfm?ArtistsID=633&Object=#Statement

Bob Johnson's "River Cubes" (2003)

Bob Johnson's "River Cubes" are public sculptures that harvest waste streams and transform the finds into cube-shaped objects that are a testament to "what our culture leaves behind." After it is compressed, each cube has everything from old tires to shopping carts. They can be described as beautiful, shocking, uncomfortable, and educational; an anti-monument created in order to raise awareness.

I like what the artist does with the trash that is found, as it really could be in other places than the ever-growing landfills. Since the public can come see what we are really throwing away, I would not be at all surprised if these sculptures do raise a lot of awareness about the growing need for recycling and other methods of trash management. Like the other two artists mentioned, I like that Bob Johnson actually makes something positive from negative aspects of the environment.

T. Allan Comp

T. Allan Comp's "Litmus Garden" and the Vintondale Project (2001)




T. Allan Comp, a historian who works at the US Dept of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining, led the Vintondale Project, which was a restoration project of a polluted landscape in Pennsylvania. A collaborative group of artists, engineers, and scientists worked together to form bioremediation ponds that purify the water by removing pH and removing toxic metals. The Litmus Garden was a series of trees that lined the ponds, creating beautiful reflections during all seasons and giving the landscape a public park look.

Like Mel Chin's work, I believe that this work is closely tied to environmentalism as it, too, involves the removal of toxic metals from a landscape. Because this was a collaborative effort of many people, it gives an encouraging look on possible future projects in other polluted areas. I believe that Mel Chin and T. Allan Comp are to be commended for doing environmental work that actually interacts and betters the environment.

Mel Chin

Mel Chin's "Revival Field" (1990)






This work is a collaboration with Rufus L. Chaney, a senior research scientist at the US Department of Agriculture, in order to detoxify a 60 sq. ft. section of the Pig's Eye landfill in St. Paul, MN. Hyperaccumulators, plants that naturally extract and store heavy metals, were used to clean up the polluted soil. This resulted in scientific data that could test the viability of plants to clean up polluted soil. Mel Chin compared the process to that of Michelangelo's sculptures since it makes something living out of something inorganic.

I feel that the work is tied in very closely to environmentalism since it is all about reducing the toxins in the soil and potentially reducing the size of landfills. I also think that the work is extremely beneficial and that more experiments like this should be carried out. The fact that this was a very scientific piece of art makes it all the better, as it could easily be taken seriously and taken to new levels by other artists and scientists.

Hi all,

Thanks for the great update. I think immigration and environmentalism are great topics. They raise a lot of issues. Now I think the task for next week is to hone in on specifically what you mean by these issues.

Things are still a bit broad but once you find key examples, eventually the collaborative process will be more organic. In the list of artists you came up with, can you give me specific projects? It's a great working list, and I think I might be able to contact some of the artists about contributing work, BUT this only makes sense if the work fits within the context of the group show. Curating a show undergoes various phases. Sometimes some artworks fit and a few weeks later they seem to contradict with others. It's a perpetual editing process, but a fun one.

For November 9th:

I want each of you to find "case examples" for each theme, or theme intersections. Find works by either the artists you mentioned below or other artists. Take a picture of the piece or just pull the image from the net and email us all the image and a few statements about how you feel this work fulfills the criteria. In these texts describe the work, how it makes you feel, and what do you think it is doing. The text does not have to be yours. It can be a compilation of text written by a previous curator or pulled from the artist's statements. But most importantly, I want you to connect the themes to the art by looking, reading, and thinking through the actual art. This will then help you and all of us try to find out the various artistic operational modes available when discussing 2 big themes such as environmentalism and immigration.

This requires a lot of time reading and digging through journals, the internet, libraries. Use keywords such as borders, ecology, sustainability, landscape, immigration, diaspora, migration, politics, bio-politics, etc. Be creative and juxtapose your word choice.

Sometimes, projects just strike you on an aesthetic level, other times you find projects conceptually strong and unique.

****I want each of you to email 3 works with text BY FRIDAY (you can use the artists we discussed or other ones). I will do the same.

Refer to these websites if you want to find new artists

Artists Space
http://afonline.artistsspace.org/
You can use a keyword search as well as search regionally.

White Columns
http://registry.whitecolumns.org/
White Columns is a gallery space here in NY.
http://www.e-flux.com/
E-flux is a world wide listserv of upcoming and previous shows. You can use the search to find previous press realases and look at older curatorial projects. This is a good place to find artists in group shows.

Art Pace has an archive of previous projects, but no keyword search.

Also check Houston, Dallas, San Antonio galleries and the artists that show there. They should have images as well as staments/reviews.

http://channel.creative-capital.org/topic_13.html
This webpage is a list of grant recipients that have applied to Creative Capital (one of the largest national funders for the arts). Creative Capital started a grant program for artists engaged in art and the environment. Here's a link to all the winners. There is some great projects here. Read up on them and if find you them striking (aesthetically, conceptually, politically, poetically) begin researching them using the net or see if you can find any additional information in the library from them.

Good luck,

Steve Lam

Hey guys,

Here's what I wrote down from teh white board today from our list of ideas. I didn't write down the sugestions for concepts that didn't have to do with politics and whatnot, but its still there, so I can get that if we want it.

Exhibition Themes:
Political
Diversification/Communication
Election/Primary
Nature/Ecology


Issues:
Education
Tax
Iraq/Foreign Policy
Environment/Global Warming
Separation of Church and State
Human Rights/Civil Liberties (includes abortion, gay marriage, torture)
Social Security
Medical Care
Border Patrol

Kathrine said she'd research some of the hot issues for this particular election and we can narrow this down/add to it from there!

Have a great weekend!