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Curated by Bill Kelley Jr.
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So
I've been thinking about how the images of sex and violence
we've been exposed to intersect with how we see and act
in the world. The cultural intermarriage of aggression and
sexuality is ancient, yet somehow it is just now leading some
of us to the shocking revelation that Americans have willingly
waged war for no good reason while violently protesting a nipple
on TV. Our tendency towards Puritanism and violence, in all
its manifestations, is the progeny of this all-too-well acquainted
couple. The conspicuous overlap of censored media-disasters
- a war not televised, a black breast that was - represents
an oddly familiar and repressively balanced epistemological
tight wire - and no one seems to want to get off. Cultural
history, power, whatever the motivation, the show does go on…
"How can you resist?"
implies, appropriately enough,
both the action necessary to mediate such offerings and the acute
sensitivity
to know better. This balancing act of realization and desire is,
at best, routine unless tempered with a critical eye.
But is this a union of convenience? I don’t think so, there’s
far too much repetition throughout history for any one clear answer.
Yet, it is perhaps outside of the realm of practical and material
theories that we might find a way to untie this marital knot.
During the 19th century, artists like Gericault and Friedrich expressed
such notions of a sublime beauty that engulfs - and possibly destroys
- supposedly as an antidote to Western Rationalism; dangerous and
sweeping views that depict the awe of nature with
a woman as its most robust embodiment.
Foucault might have been right in saying that during the 19th century,
the Old World developed a discourse of class-based self-scrutiny
through sex. That may be true, but the view of sexual knowledge
as a link to the sublime awe of yearning, apprehension, fear and
repression are far older than that. The scrutiny of the self has
strong ties to the discovery of the New World centuries
earlier. To finally situate yourself on a global map required the
knowledge of a sensual Other. This knowledge composed
of equal parts corporeal
curiosity and colonial occupation and possession has been raised
as the post-colonial standard bearer of sexual politics. So there's
a link for you and perhaps something to think about. Ok...whatever.
It is complicated. Contemporary art and the American media's
contribution to our interwoven views on danger, security, and aggression
run pretty deep. Could there be a link to the sexually laden misconduct
of smiling soldiers in Iraqi prisons? I mean, there must be some
sort of explanation for seemingly incongruent behavior, right?
If no one is minding, is there any point in trying to figure it
out?
This selection of works is neither a product of, nor a slave to,
any worn historical path. It addresses only what you're willing
to invest in and is simply a dialogue between you and I. This dialogue
is a construction of meaning that extracts an open space - you're
all invited - where the criss-cross of beauty, terror, aggression,
sensuality, and the sublime, both ephemeral and concrete, intermingle.
And yes, of course, the work speaks for itself.
– Bill Kelley Jr.
Buscando by Brook
Alfaro (4:45)
I'm Safe by John
Richey (0:30)
Thunder Perfect Mind by Micaela
O'Herlihy (26:00)
Epiphany:
Freeway Crash by John
Richey (1:37)
Brief Interviews by Jim
Skuldt (3:00)
Immersion by Tobias
Tovera (6:00)
Teeth in the Wrong Places by Caitlin
Berrigan (7:00)
Lucille by Enid
Baxter Blader (4:00)
Labial by Natasha Pachano (3:00) |
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