KEEPING HOUSE, ANSON THE ORNERY, & PROGRESSIONAL CURRENTS
May 12 - June 23, 2017
KEEPING HOUSE examines the territory between individual and nationalistic identity as expressed through labor. It is an American custom to identify oneself via one’s profession. Shifts in the nature of jobs in our country threaten the pride of vocation which ushered in this ritual. Although Veronica Ceci’s primary identity is that of Artist, as it is largely an unpaid role, she supplements it with identities as Housekeeper and Master Printer. Keeping House centers the intersection of these identities with that of American citizen utilizing an exaggerated presentation of the violence of capitalism as contrasted with romantic dreams of the failed possibilities of communism. These themes are explored via print, a medium which has played heavily in the history of the labor movement and which itself is a character in the saga The exhibition presents print based installation work, discrete pieces and sculpture. It features the community art project Our Unamerica, funded in part by a grant from the City Of Austin Cultural Arts Division. Unamerica is a shape, created by the artist, which references the geographical outline of our country but has been altered to fit back into itself like a puzzle piece. The shape was brought to community centers where patrons were offered free drawing instruction in exchange for decorating the shape with images of what they felt was most joyous and most challenging about contemporary life in the United States.
ANSON THE ORNERY’s interactive installation Shades, parodies art-as-bullion by not displaying any of the art in Anson’s solo exhibition. As the muffled sound of a cattle auctioneer can be heard a large pile of lamps shades illuminate the gallery walls and the white slightly raised lettering “Shades.” The low light obscures the space casting shadows the selected artworks. The light will not help much to see because each artwork is covered by a packing blanket. The artwork may not be seen but it can be felt. Literally, the gallery goers are encouraged to feel the art through the blankets. Is it a thrift store velvet painting of Elvis or a Monet? Could it be a common flower pot or Ming vase? The artworks identity has been hidden just like countless masterpieces.
PROGRESSIONAL CURRENTS is an exhibition highlighting ceramic artists that have traveled to Hungary in order to expand and challenge their studio practice at the International Ceramics Studio (ICS) in Kecskemét. These artists lived and worked together during the summer of 2015 and 2016. At the ICS they worked alongside and learned from sculptors, plaster-masters and ceramic innovators from around the world. The works displayed reveal how each artist worked before visiting ICS, their approach to a new environment and material and how that has affected their work since returning to the United States. Concepts explore religion, architecture, the environment, anatomy and the occult. Artists include Emily Connell, London Dupere, Kim Lavonne, Cydney Ross, Melanie Sherman and Joseph Wullner.
