Title: No Brow
Description:
No Brow
September 27th through October 18th, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, 27th of September, 7:00 - 10:30pm Participating
Artists: Aaron Kraten, Alexandra Wiesenfeld, Brooks Salzwedel, Jane
Gotts, Jason Hernandez, Jeff McMillan, Jennybird Alcantara, John Casey,
Junko Mizuno, Ken Garduno, Oksana Badrak and Sam Saghatelian.
In reaction against the increasing abstraction and intellectual
elitism of contemporary art as well as the economic, academic and
social institutions that supported it, a small group of like-minded
artists and gallerists sought to shed light on works being produced
outside the art system. The resulting movement, condescendingly called
“Low Brow” by critics pointed to another way of producing, thinking and
talking about art. “Low Brow” art emphasized the human subject and
his/her insecurities, fears, joys, dreams and nightmares in a
figurative, pop culture-tinged style. “Outsider” and “Underground”
artists became visible. Artists working in media as diverse as hot
rods and children’s books illustrations were brought together in a
pluralist environment where the value of a work was determined not by
its adherence to a particular style or its retail value, but rather its
aesthetic and emotional impact.
Yet even among art that aims to be free of traditional categories and
definitions, there is an ever-present danger of calcification and
rampant commercialization. These dangers threaten to turn even the most
unorthodox of movements into an exercise in mainstream banality. The
very success of the Low Brow movement may curb those features that once
distinguished it from “High Brow” art, with its rules and value
judgments.
It is this freedom from art historical and art critical dogma that was
the main inspiration behind the founding of Black Maria Gallery. The
goal of the gallery has been to celebrate art that is accessible yet
deeply personal and visually aesthetic yet unpretentious. In the ever
shifting ground of contemporary art, Black Maria aims to present art
that keeps true to the spirit of art itself: protean, socially,
politically, personally engaged and relevant to more than just those in
the know. Low Brow has already created a field from which there will
sprout, be filtered and manifested works of genuine artistic power:
works that will answer to the standards of neither High nor Low Brow,
in effect shaping a “NO BROW” of uncategorizable art.
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