My first Gallery Show
 

I wanted to share with the TFP my first show in an art gallery...it's a group show, but there were only 5 of us so I got to show 7 pieces of work, which is pretty great!

The Show is called «Disposable You».

The reasoning behind this name is because of several factors. First, all the artists work with volume and objects. Secondly, we all work around similar themes: man in relation to his surroundings, in relation to society or other people. The phrase “disposable you”, refers to how we currently are members of a society (and generation) that is more and more materialistic, but that also discards those material things on a whim. If it's broken, it gets thrown away. There is always a replacement. And this applies not only to objects, but to people, and relationships. We live in a world where everything is at arm’s reach, at our disposal, but where we can only depend on ourselves. The title includes the word 'you' because it points at the observer, at everyone, saying that we are all disposable and making the observer pay attention.

So, here are some photos of the show!

My work are the dark shaped canvases on the wall and also the cubes with letters, plus two little drawings.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05019.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05016.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05013.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05015.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05001.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04981.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04982.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04987.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04993.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05001.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05003.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05005.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05007.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05008.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05009.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC05011.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04975.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04976.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04980.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04999.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70...r/DSC04998.jpg

nice! thank you for sharing. the red is so vibrant it makes things look surreal, which is what I think your point is.

I love the idea of disposable you. I'm not sure how I feel about being disposable, there's lots of feelings there I'm sure, as we all like to think we're unique in some way that we add some extra flavor to the mix that couldn't possibly come from someplace else but us.

very nice. congrats!

do the cubes spell anything out? (not sure since might be in Portugese?)

I am really uneducated in how to look at most of this work. Lots of it is impenetrable to me. I wish I could understand your wall constructs with the lacing - they intrigue me but are totally opaque. Do you have a closeup of those drawings?

It looks to be a wonderful space to use for display. Congratulations LT!

great stuff. i love it. as cynth said, its a surreal feeling with the reds.

the works give me almost a sense of empytness. a soul-less feeling. a feeling of being devoid of something. theres a lot of empyness. maybe thats the effect of large rooms against the works.

i love the petrol pump with the guns.

i can see a lot of you in your works. thank you for sharing

cynth - i read A-R-T-I-S-T then i dont know what the rest says

Wow LT, these are nothing short of remarkable. I espeically enjoyed the gas pumps, the big red heart and what I'm assuming is a broken and half flipped heart sculpture.

I love the concept too, very though provoking.

Care to elaborate on the cubes? Thanks to google I've found that fingidor translates to malingerer. As in feigned illness. Art is pretending to be dead/sick?

Take any more shots?

I TOTALLY dig the gas pump and the girl in the checkered dress.

Amazing stuff, LT <3

Thanks for sharing these photos with us, LT. The work is very interesting. I like the cubes with letters. Even if I don't know what you would like the letters to mean, my mind has fun rearranging them to come up with things that I like.

The red objects are particularly striking in that space. The heart gave me a laugh.

I notice one of your pieces is strapped to the wall in what seems like a clunky way; is that purposeful? Personally I found it a bit distracting.

Congrats, LT, on your first show! It looks great, and I really like your work. Is there any way we could get a closeup of the drawings you displayed?

What an incredible accomplishment!

The bold red and black against those stark white gallery walls do a wonderful job of catching the eye and drawing me in to view detail. My favorite is the heart adorned with keys.

I would have so much fun walking around those pieces, watching shadows and light play a part in the works. Photos never quite capture the fun and intricate nuances of sculpture.

LT, firstly thanks for sharing.
I was quite impressed with your pieces more than the others shown. Hanging seven in a show like this is quite impressive and in truth, I feel that yours were some of the better pieces that emoted more edginess and feeling than the others -though the whole show "worked well as a group statement'.

The organics of the black wall & laced pieces were intense and more emotional than most/ok ALL of the other pieces. They provoke the mind & sense (Bravo!!) and make me want to see so much more from you! Your cubes are probably best seen in person...having been in shows in the past, I know that this is usually true. I can't be totally truthful about those but wish I could see them in person or later on in a major road show. It'snot fair to judge from a Dell 17inch screen. But they look worthy!

For those who liked the red heart with all the keys best, it was ok/trite and perhaps a bit too Jr. College IMHO. Real art assemblages are meant to be a bit more questionable without the corninest of someone saying "Ahhh, that's kinda cute." Trust me I've been an art teacher and have been juried often in this same manner. It does feel intense, but makes us get tougher and more serious about our worK.

Well done and you should feel empowered !!! Thought provoking & we can't wait to see more! Thanks again. You have created some fine work. :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the positive comments guys.

All your responses gave me plenty to think about. I'd love to address each one individually but currently my time is pretty limited and my attention span is waning due to being tired all the time. I will try though. As you all know, I'm a sucker for talking about art :p

It really is a privilege to be showing in this space, and I'm very proud! A lot I would have done better or differently, but to think it was pulled off in little over a month makes me think I did really well.

Cyn, we are all unique, that is the point. I hate the current state of things where no-one seems to care about anyone or anything anymore to make a real effort. This is an exaggeration of course, but on bad days, that's how it feels. We don't slow down anymore and appreciate what we have. It's like everyone is constantly saying, just be yourself, but then also, be the best. Want more. Strive for better. Try harder. I use several of these ideas in my work.

The cubes, that was a bit of a fun piece. I decided to make it on an impulse. But there are a lot of thoughts contained in it. It reads "artista fingidor". Well, you see the poem in my sig? That is by a famous portuguese poet, Fernando Pessoa. He wrote a poem that loosely translated reads:

"The poet is a pretender
Who’s so good at his act
He pretends even the pain
Of pain he feels in fact (...)"

I took the first line and changed it to artist. What the poet means by this is that to create art, the poet (or artist) must elevate his pain/emotion/creative idea to a different realm, otherwise it is not art. And in this expression, of creativity or of imagination, the pain that is fictional, becomes more real than the actual emotion. When I took this idea, I meant to apply it to all manner of creative people, hence artists (in Portugal at least, "artista" applies to many arts and forms of creativity). Also, the expression to me speaks of the artist's permanent dilemma. Why do I do this? Why do I feel the need to do this? Does anyone care about what I'm doing? Does this have any use to anyone? And then also the fact that there is no reason, there is no one objective, but one thing is sure, it is deeply felt.

I also meant to laugh at myself a little. Someone once mentioned that my shaped canvases looked like giant pillows. It got me thinking how I did not like that association. Because it seems too easy. But then I also thought that it would be nice if people could feel safe in my work. Literally. So these painted cubes/pillows have been made in a way that they can be touched. They are actually very comfortable and soft.

Finally, I decided on a shape made from cubes because that comes from way back with me, I have used cubes/squares for a while now. Basically, the squares are a symbol for order, for the human need to name everything, everything having a place and it's own 'box'. It is a way of anchoring ourselves in the world. We establish a structure that makes us feel that we know things, we understand them, we have a place here.

So, as you may be guessing, I could go on and on about this. I think for now, that's as far as I will go with that piece!

kramus, I have said this before - there is no set way you have to look at or understand any of the works. If your first gut reaction is 'I hate it because I don't get this at all, for me', then so be it. Some art works today really go out on a limb and sometimes it takes a few different times of being in contact with them to actually get anything from them. Hopefully my cubes piece, in person, helps to dispel the seriousness of art - at least that's part of what I wanted to do. I'm not sure I can help more but I'm sure if you got to see the show in person, you'd have a better experience.

dlish, large, white, empty rooms can be quite soul-less. I hate that. Well, empty is not what I was going for, but each person will have their own interpretation. I hope that one day if I get to have my own solo show, I will do a better job of erasing the emptiness!

Manic_Skafe, thanks! Sadly, the pieces you refer are not mine, they are by some of the other artists. I will maybe take more close-ups of the works and post them here later.

snowy, people have said before that my strapping works to the wall makes it distracting. I like to think it does its job. I sometimes hang the work then strap ropes (steel and natural fiber ones) across them. I do this to add tension and to divert the eyes from focusing only on the piece and not the space surrounding it. I guess maybe I need to work on that! Thanks for your comments.

hunnychile, thanks, it's true we made it work as a group, but I confess that we were thrown in together with not much choice. I pretty much organized the whole thing so I'm happy we made it work as a group to some extent. I'm glad you like the cubes! I was surprised by the positive response to them, as I was worried how they'd turn out.

About that heart...yes, I agree it is too direct for me too. The artist who does this work has good ideas, but I like the concept to be a little more subtle. If it's too easy, then you don't have to make any effort to see layers and different possible interpretations in the work. That way, it doesn't give you much to think about. I have had plenty of tough teachers and know what you mean!

Ok I'm all out of thoughts for the moment...really, thank you so much for being interested :)

Congratulations on your show, little tippler.

I agree with you. Too often art and artists are far too serious and don't enjoy what they do because they're trying too hard to say something, rather than just create something aesthetically pleasing. I like your idea of bringing a little humor to art.

Very impressive. Looks like it was a fun show.

Your remarks add to the emotion involved & give more understanding to this show and are greatly appreciated.

Can't wait to see more from your next Show!

nice...thanks for putting up these images and for including the whole show in particular. it'd be easy to just post your own stuff, but it's better to keep the group show intact i think.

i like the soft pieces, but particularly the pair strapped to the wall. i like the way they're strapped, that it draws attention to itself as strapping and so, in the photo anyway, lends a kind of air of suffocation to the piece--like they're lungs inhaling that are prevented from doing it by the wires.

the concrete poem/assemblage of cubes is cool. are you thinking of it as a sculpture or as a poem? seems like the latter from the image....i like the piece and i like the words, but wonder how you link the two, if you do---or what might happen if you played with the relation between the words and setting, and so made something like this more explicit a concrete poem.

some of the other folk's pieces i like, some i don't: it's like that in most shows.
your things and one or two others i would be inclined to go back to look at more, though.
it's not often i think that way after seeing a show...

thanks again for posting the images.

rb, you make me blush! Thank you. I'm glad I piqued your interest.

The cubes and the poem idea are still at an initial stage but I decided not to be afraid and show them and see what the reaction was.

One of my favourite things has been that children love them, because they are soft. I don't know why this makes me happy. Maybe because children have good instincts and very natural reactions so I like that the work says something to them.

Edit - well I'm guessing it says bouncy castle but hey, that's good too! lol

Excellent! How does one go about getting pieces into a show or gallery?

Looks like a very successful show; and timely in subject matter/concept. Did you mention where the show took place?