Curatorial Statement
Penelope Umbrico's 'Honeymoon Suite 4 The notion of having an intention in art happened when the evolution of conceptual art entered into the academy of the early seventies. In those days, to have an intention was a kind of ideational justification for what one was doing or what one hoped to do. But it was soon apparent that not all of art required a stated intention - at least not in the academic sense. Some was perfectly fine without the rhetoric. The misunderstanding - and, to some extent, the irony - was that the clarity of one's intention was often not enough. In order to satisfy the criterion of the institution, one had to employ a type of rhetoric that was fueled by theory, preferably one endowed to cynicism. In recent years, this has raised the more timely question: How much of the art being produced today has clear intentions? Or is it mostly about the rhetoric?
For this exhibition, I have selected a diverse group artists whose work embodies a conventional medium. They are either abstract painters or painter/sculptors or, in one case, a photographer who simulates color field painting. Either the artist's intentions go from concept to material or they run parallel between the two. Each artist - regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, or gender - has discovered a necessary distance by which to pursue a pictorial approach to their chosen medium. In doing so, each artist reveals a means towards the construction of a pictorial language that is free from the rhetoric of identity politics found in too much art today.
Here I am reminded of the philosopher Kierkegaard's subtle assertion that to be fully confident in one's faith (or, in this case, one's art), artists should retain a sense of doubt. I would interpret the various approaches to pictorial expression included in this exhibition as retaining a certain element of doubt. In saying this, perhaps, doubt - not rhetoric - has always been the essential component in art's survival. But here is the paradox: If doubt is essential, then the artist's struggle against doubt is also essential. One might argue that the internal dialogue is what keeps art moving and, at the same time, keeps the artist clear in his or her intentions.
Robert C. Morgan
June 30, 2003
Guest curator Robert C. Morgan is a writer, art critic, curator and art historian. He has authored over twelve hundred articles and reviews and writes for ArtNews, Sculpture, New York Arts, and Tema Celeste. He has authored numerous books, catalogues and monographs. Recent books include: Bruce Nauman (2002),The End of the Art World (1998)), and Art into Ideas: Essays on Conceptual Art (1996). He has curated more than twenty exhibitions and currently teaches at the School of Visual Arts and at Pratt Institute; and is a founding board member of Art/Omi International Artists Workshop.
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. Janet Riker is the Gallery Director; Meridith McNeal is Associate Director. 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 is grateful for the generous support of our exhibition and education programs from the Sally and Milton Avery Foundation, Bloomberg L.P., Con Edison, Forest City Ratner Companies, the Hearst Foundations, the Independence Community Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the New York Community Trust, the New York Times Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, the Josephine Bay and C. Michael Paul Foundation, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, the Underwood Foundation, Verizon, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, as well as numerous individuals.
Programs are made possible in part by public funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and the Brooklyn Delegation to the New York City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
The Rotunda Gallery is a program of BRIC/Brooklyn Information & Culture
Thursday, September 4, 2003 through Saturday, October 18, 2003
Admission is FREE
OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION: Thursday, September 4