Curatorial Statment
Exhibition Checklist
Gallery Location/Directions
Acknowledgements
Curatorial Statement
By physically engaging the audience, Try This questions what art demands of the viewer, and puts our involvement at center stage.
A number of the artists remind us of the wonder embedded in the mundane. Troy Dugas’ tongue-in-cheek instructional video demonstrates how to create a silver chalice from a gum wrapper. Nancy Steinson’s small bronze sculptures remind us of the shape and weight of objects we use everyday -- the telephone, a door handle, a favorite coffee mug - while referencing awe-inspiring large scale minimalist sculptures we can never hope to know as intimately. Betty Crocker meets Mr. Fix-It in Steve Gerberich’s "Labor Saving Devices" cheerfully assembled from recycled blenders, egg beaters and cheese graters.
Several of the artists respond to the physical environment. Shelly Bahl’s installation in the gallery restroom plays with notions of home décor, exotic motifs and cultural appropriation. Bruce Busby’s hand-sewn tensile structure offers agile viewers a private moment in the safe, cocoon-like space. David Judelson’s minimalist wooden arcs are meant to be rolled through the space, probing the mechanics of motion and spatial relationships.
George Spencer’s fictional narrative begins outside the gallery where Brooklyn residents can unearth mysterious ceramic shards. His gallery installation will display recovered shards along with documentation of this archeological project.
Installations by Antonella Piemontese and Paik and Platzek explore the layering of collective opinion from the simple mechanical act of placing a pin to technologically sophisticated hand held devices and LCD screens. Both works seem to question the meaning derived from the accumulation of mass emotion.
And so along with the participating artists, we invite you to Try This...
Janet Riker
March 2002
Exhibition Checklist
Unless otherwise noted all works are from the collection of the artists; dimensions are given in inches (height x width x depth).
Shelly Bahl
Goldie’s Temple, 2002
Mixed media installation
Dimensions variable
Price upon request
Bruce Busby
Filter Tent FAWC#901-202, 2001-2002
Nylon fabric, fiberglas poles, aluminum, urethane plastic
42 x 126 x 126
$12,500
Troy Dugas
The Secret of Grails, 2001
Video, gum wrapper, pamphlets
Dimensions variable
NFS
Steve Gerberich
Labor Saving Devices, 2002
Mechanical sculpture
Dimensions variable
NFS
David Judelson
Two Arcs II, 2002
Wood, steel, rubber, paint
32 x 32 x 32
$2,000
Paik and Platzek
A Lovely Impression, 2002
Wood, glass, computer LCD screens
Each panel: 36 x 36 x 7
Price upon request
Antonella Piemontese
Thought Cushions, 2002
Ink on stuffed linen, pins
Each: 8 x 8 x 4
Set of 22 cushions: $6,000
George Spencer
Fragments, 2002
Mixed media
144 x 180 x 24
Price upon request
Nancy Steinson
The Manus Series (Nos.1-11), 1998-2002
Bronze
Dimensions vary
Prices for individual pieces upon request
The purchase of artwork is an important way individuals can support contemporary artists and share their work with others. The Rotunda Gallery is a not-for-profit exhibition space and retains 20% of the proceeds of sales to help underwrite its exhibitions and educational programs. Please ask the gallery sitter if you would like additional information.
Gallery Location/Directions
The Rotunda Gallery (33 Clinton Street, Brooklyn Heights), housed in an award-winning space designed by Smith-Miller + Hawkinson, showcases the work of Brooklyn artists. The Rotunda Gallery's educational programs reach 6,000 students each year with gallery visits and in-school art making projects. The Rotunda Gallery is a project of the not-for-profit BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture, Inc.
Located in Brooklyn Heights, just over the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Gallery is also easily accessible by public transportation. It is a short walk from the 2,3; 4,5; M; N or R trains at the Court Street/Borough Hall station; or the A, C trains at High Street.
Acknowledgements
The Rotunda Gallery gratefully acknowledges the 1999 Leadership Gift of Richard B. Fisher.
The Rotunda Gallery is grateful for the generous support of our exhibition and education programs from the Sally and Milton Avery Foundation, Chase Manhattan Bank Foundation, Con Edison, the Cowles Charitable Trust, Forest City Ratner Companies, the Greenwall Foundation, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and the New York Community Trust, as well as numerous individuals.
Programs are made possible in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President and the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Rotunda Gallery is a project of BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture.
April 4 to May 18, 2002
Curated by Janet Riker and Meridith McNeal