This is Labor

THIS IS LABOR

Presented by Washington Sculptors Group at Kaplan Gallery, VisArts at Rockville

Washington Post Review

Exhibition Dates:
September 18 - October 20, 2013

Opening Reception and Curator's Talk:

Friday, September 20, 7 - 9 pm

 

Closing Reception and Conversations with Sculptors:

Sunday, October 20, 2 pm

Exhibition Jurors:

Anne Reeve, Curatorial Associate at Glenstone

Claire D'Alba, Assistant Curator, Art in Embassies, U.S. Department of State

 

Participating Artists:
Jan Acton

Greg Braun

Nizette Brennan

Jeffery Cooper

Elsabè Dixon

Martin Feldman

Maggie Gourlay

Adam Hager
Hyeon Kim

Jacqueline Maggi

Elena Patino

John Ruppert

Paul Steinkoenig

Diane Szczepaniak

Elizabeth Whiteley

Millicent Young
THIS IS LABOR explores the intersections and overlap between the sphere of "work" and that of "art". Historically art has been placed squarely in the realm of traditional labor-integrated and validated as a necessary part of civic life. Since the time of Michelangelo and Ghiberti, however, art has been increasingly isolated as a discipline, with both its processes and products in continual dispute. Today, a survey, sidewalk performance, or séance can be seen and experienced as part of a gallery program; artists may exhibit literal trash, culled from the sidewalk, or spend years crafting meticulous, functionless objects that resist description altogether. What types of "work" are enacted, and legitimized, in these practices? What sort of labor does the artist today undertake-intellectual, emotional, physical, durational, technical, or performative? How is that labor valued, and by whom? How does practicality inform the practice? What is the relationship between time invested and resulting value? The artists ofThis is Labor negotiate these terms in siting their own practice, exploring different possibilities inherent in the "work"of art.
Anne Reeve currently serves as Curatorial Associate at Glenstone, a private-arts foundation located in Potomac, Maryland. As Director of Glenstone's Oral History Program she has interviewed over 30 artists, including John Baldessari, Claes Oldenburg, Jeff Wall, Martha Rosler, Jo Baer, Carl Andre, and others. She has worked for the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, The Guggenheim Museum, New York, andThe Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy. Her writing has appeared in Art Papers and in Art in America Magazine, and her recent contribution to the volume Making the Geologic Now, a collaboration with artist Jarrod Beck, was released by Punctum Books in Fall 2012. She holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in the History of Art from University College London.

 

Claire D'Alba is an Assistant Curator with Art in Embassies at the United States Department of State.  She has assistant curated permanent collections and curated temporary exhibitions and for United States diplomatic missions around the world, including recent projects in Morocco, Gaborone, Tallinn, Beijing, Kigali, Panama, and Nicaragua.  Before joining the State Department, Claire completed her Master of Arts Degree at the University of Virginia, where she was the Assistant Director of the University's Fayerweather Gallery.  She received her Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Prior to her current position, she worked in philanthropic consulting at Campbell & Company and at the National Gallery of Art.
VisArts is a dynamic, nonprofit arts center dedicated to engaging the community in the arts and providing opportunities for artistic exploration, education and participation. Through educational programming, gallery exhibitions and a resident artist program, VisArts provides children, teens and adults with opportunities to express their creativity and enhance their awareness of the arts. The galleries at VisArtsserve as a catalyst for conversation, education and creative interactions through quality gallery exhibitions and programs. The Kaplan Gallery at VisArts is a premier exhibition space committed to programming that exemplifies the VisArts mission presenting artists and issues that reflect regional, national and international interests. VisArts is located in Rockville Town Square, three blocks from the Rockville Metro at 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD.

Kaplan Gallery
VisArts at Rockville

155 Gibbs Street

Rockville, MD  20850

(301) 315-8200

www.visartsatrockville.org

 

Gallery Hours:

Wednesday, 12 - 4 pm,

Thursday and Friday, 12 - 8 pm

Saturday and Sunday, 12 - 4 pm

 

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Images courtesy of the artists: from Left to Right, Elsabè Dixon, Elena Patino, Greg Braun