21
curated by Ben Sanders
February 3 – February 26, 2017
Saul Alegria
Sterling Allen
Braulio Amado
Wilbert Brent
Edward Cushenberry
Mark Delong
Heather Edgar
Timo Fahler
Roberta Gentry
Andrew Ho
Hiroyuki Ishii
David Jien
Gretta Johnson
Chyrum Lambert
Paige Moon
Deveron Richard
Alex Scott
Rachel Stern
Michael Swaney
Mark Williams
Susan Wise
21 showcases the work of artists from around the world, including several artists with disabilities, a group which too often inhabits its own “outsider” art world instead of being equally integrated into a broader conversation. The work ranges in style from Sterling Allen’s pristine minimal sculptures to Mark Delong’s frenzied cardboard constructions. An entire spectrum of representation is explored in Paige Moon’s highly detailed renderings of her family and friends, in Mark Williams’ flattened symbolic forms, and in Gretta Johnson’s material-centric shapes that evoke mysterious concrete objects. Take a few steps back, and notice how the density of content blurs into pure pattern in Rachel Stern’s photographs, Michael Swaney’s gouache paintings, and Wilbert Brent’s obsessively dense drawings
All in all, 21 is meant to be nothing more than a feast for your eyes and trigger curiosity in the minds of those who celebrate making and looking at things. The work in this show is as diverse as the artists who made it. From well-established artists, to people who are unknown, people with disabilities, people who work as designers and illustrators, people who run galleries, people who teach, and people who work nine-to-five jobs. They are all connected by the fact that they spend at least part of their lives making beautiful things, and it's time that these things be together in one room for a little while.
Installation photos by Josh Schaedel
