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Artist/Curator and White Columns director Matthew Higgs captures the communal nature of artists relating to artists. The exhibition includes fifteen pairs of artists and thirty traded artworks reunited after their mutual bartered exchange. The pairings reveal a compelling visual discourse between artists. And it is this visual dialogue that drives the constant flux of ideas and visual cross currents from generation to generation and across cultures and economies. Unfortunately that visual dialogue is often overshadowed by the academic banter of curators and critics alike. Thankfully, Higgs kept it simple and wrote a brief statement which allows the artworks to speak for themselves. Some pairs are more complimentary than others, but that seems to be less important than capturing the act of trading; of artists talking to artists, looking at art. Artist pairs which really stand out include works by Carter and Ruth Root. Carter and Root; two very different artists capture this mutual visual and emotive compliment. Carter's photographic collage includes a pair of eyes staring out from a wall adjacent to an intercom. The work is jarring in the way that it instills a surrealistic psychology to the mundane every day; much like a Robert Gober sculpture has the ability to undermine the average in unexpected ways. Where as Root's complimentary work, which also contains an equally disturbing pair of eyes, stares out from a geometric patchwork of color. The pair captures a relationship that is visual and psychologically memorable. The pairing of artists Arne Svenson and AA Bronson is also a high point in the exhibition. Svenson's mug shot style black and white photograph of Bronson and his boy friend Mark contain a sense of visual calm. Where as Bronson's frenetic color photograph Felix, taken of Felix Partz moments after he died from AIDS is a powerful and emotionally charged personal history. Both of these images have an extraordinary tension between them and within their own visual and narrative content. Bronson's assertive color and decorative quality overpowers the crushing loss captured in the subject matter. Where as Svenson's cool, calm black and white photograph comes off with a zen like quality about it's subject. According to AA Bronson his trade with Arne Svenson was "…(in) an accidental sort of way. Arne Svenson happened to mention that if he ever owned a piece by me, he would want it to be the portrait of Felix... so I gave him one. Next thing I knew, he asked if he could take portraits of me and my boyfriend Mark... and then he gave us copies. There's a nice generosity of spirit between us that I really value." Trade captures that generosity of spirit, which is so essential to the emotive barter economies between artists and the cultures in which they operate. By Andrew Robinson Written for the Gay
City News Exhibition Information:February 4 - March 12, 2005 Curated by Matthew Higgs: Director & Chief Curator, White Columns The exhibition includes works by: Rita Ackermann, Michael Ashkin, Michael Bidlo, Jesse Bransford, AA Bronson, Carter, Jennifer Cohen, Roe Ethridge, Rainer Ganahl, General Idea, Kim Gordon, Erik Hanson, Gareth James, Jane Kaplowitz, Deborah Kass, Richard Kern, Jutta Koether, Cary Leibowitz, Judy Linn, Nate Lowman, Adam McEwen, Aleksandra Mir, Dave Muller, Thomas Nozkowski, Rob Pruitt, Walter Robinson, Ruth Root, Martha Rosler, Arne Svenson. White Columns
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AA Bronson
& Arne Svenson AA Bronson Felix, June 5, 1994, 1994/1999 C-print 20 x 24 in. Collection of Arne Svenson  Arne Svenson AA, 1998 Black and white photographs 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. Collection of AA Bronson  Arne Svenson Mark, 1998 Black and white photographs Two photographs: 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. Collection of AA Bronson Carter & Ruth Root  Carter Untitled, 2002 Two framed Polaroids 4 x 3 1/2 in. each Collection of Ruth Root  Ruth Root Untitled, 2002 Enamel on canvas 18 x 24 in. Collection of Carter |
