The Handshake
January 30 – February 20, 2009
Opening: January 30, 6-9PM
The Gallery Group at the Art Institute of Jacksonville is pleased to announce the opening of The Handshake on January 30, 2009 from 6PM-9PM. The Handshake features the works of artists Jason Boyer (Richmond, VA) and Robert Ryan (Asbury Park, NJ). Catalog of exhibition with a limited edition CD will be available at the opening.
The works of Jason Boyer and Robert Ryan display a quest for knowledge through the individual’s relationship with universal symbols. The images describe a struggle between an alienation and a dependency on the universal for transcendence.
Below is an excerpt from the catalog:
“The Handshake exhibit is an introduction, the work of two meeting for the first time. Jason Boyer and Robert Ryan were, until now, strangers. The work on the wall is a visible manifestation of an introduction, an agreement, and perhaps, an obscure association. Boyer and Ryan seem to have an allegiance to the unknown. They belong to the club of visionaries, mystics, shaman, the priestly class. They are the makers of dreams manifest. Boyer and Ryan are both painters, musicians, and tattooers. Both are fascinated by the oppositions of the known versus the unknown, extensions of the individual expressed in both the macro and the micro.”
-Barrett Fiser, instructor, tattooer
The Handshake has been organized by the Gallery Group at the Art Institute of Jacksonville. The Gallery Group is a focus group of 15 graphic design and interactive media students responsible for curating, installing and advertising two exhibitions each the year. Students develop a concept, research artists and curate each exhibition with the intention of further defining the relationship between “fine art” and design.
3 comments:
Artists are not angels. We don't operate in silos with blinders, just doing our own thing, with wings, living carefree, eating manna that falls from heaven, and such. People say they aren't competitive, but it simply is not true. There is an odd mix of mutual love/admiration and shadenfruede in the art world. This is true not only for artists but for gallery owners and collectors. Working artists are no different than anyone alse, we all want to improve our quality of life, fulfill dreams, and be the best (in both a critical and market oriented sense) that we can be.
I have been making images/photographs for a long time,
and I have wrestled with many aspects
of the process and my reasons for
putting time and resources into it, and also have closely examined the motivating forces which compel me
to engage in it, and have arrived
at a partial understanding of the
"why" and role it can occupy in a
persons life.
Some are combining the whole thing
into a lifestyle, they might have
a "Message" or a messiah complex
that compels them to put images/issues in people's faces,
some are attention seeking wankers,
and the very few are breaking ground, bringing a rare and unique thing to the table....vision and
technique and a mastery and a devotion to their craft, but it's
a rare thing.
For me, the process is as important as the outcome.
Maybe if one is on the real path,
it is irrelevant as to whether or
not your work is Ever seen or
bought by anyone.
You have to ask yourself why
you are making the stuff, what you
are investing in the process, and
what returns you are hoping for.
If you want recognition and
financial reward, good luck, many
are called, but few are chosen.
But, if you have the vision, and the fire, you will keep on
regardless because you don't care
who is watching or buying, you
are on a journey whose outcome
and destination is only a dream,
but it's your dream and you keep on because the absence of engaging in it would cause you pain and frustration.
The rest of you will fall by the
wayside.
But the diamonds, the jewels
will shine on.
Chris
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