:: Spring 2008 exhibition schedule

:: Red State Blues - curated by Wim Roefs

January 18 – February 29

« Opening Reception: Jan. 18th, 5-7pm
« Gallery Talk: 6pm

“The art in the exhibition prods the often manufactured consent that much of society operates on. The art does so, however, not through the cheap-and-easy, single-minded shot of the hack-columnist but the subtle considerations of observers, in this case artists, not bound by particular party or interest-group politics but by notions of a just, open, healthy and sustainable society – locally, regionally and globally. Much of the work does not provide clear-cut answers or positions. Rather, it does what thoughtful art does best: trigger thought and discussion through visual means by providing a different point of entry into complex issues, asking questions rather than obscuring them with pat answers. In addition to providing food for thought, the art selected also achieves high formal and aesthetic qualities. Art has to be aesthetically interesting to be relevant because only art worth looking at can make a point – or points.”

~ Wim Roefs

Artists:Russell Biles Steven Chapp, Tonya Gregg, Jean Grosser, Mana Hewitt, Deanna Leamon, Larry Merriman, Alex Powers, Colin Quashie, Leo Twiggs, John G. Wright

:: Young Contemporaries 2008 - juror Marc Trujillo

March 27 – April 25

« Opening Reception: Mar. 27th, 4-6pm

This year's Young Contemporaries juror is Marc Trujillo, an urban landscape painter whose work borders on photo-realism. Trujillo creates meticulously rendered, consumately composed, and exquisitley brushed pictures of standard commercial outlets and their blandly functional interiors. The artist earned an M.F.A. From Yale University and has been exhibited at Carnegie Art Museum along with multiple commercial gallery exhibitions. Trujillo currently teaches Drawing and Painting at Santa Monica College, CA and resides outside of Los Angeles.

:: Calin Dan Emotional Architecture: Azimuth Fissure
Curated by Dr. Marian Mazzone

May 16 – June 20

« Opening Reception: May 16, 5-7pm
« Gallery Talk: May 17, 1pm

artist's website

Calin Dan’s work consists of interwoven video, photography, and performance.  Included in this exhibition are works from the Emotional Architecture series:  sony/wmf/pp (1994-2003), Sample City (2005), Trip (2006), and the new work inspired by Charleston.  This material is a haunting juxtaposition of our current environment with documentary images from the 1886 earthquake, drawn from the holdings of the South Carolinian Library at the University of South Carolina.  

Emotional Architecture is a concept engineered to facilitate a new perspective on converging phenomena such as habitat, religion, and crowd management under the dominance of media.  The Emotional perspective on Architecture was facilitated by the acceleration occurring lately in domains such as scale economies, balances of political power, construction technologies and their respective visual reflection.  Emotional Architecture is also the result of complementary processes manifest in the societal body: assimilation of chaos theories and information technologies; suppression of spiritual practices and enhancement of collective narcissism.  

“The operational value of Emotional Architecture is checked through a medium term research involving different media formats (video, photography, and internet platforms, workshops, analogue and digital publications), and bringing in dialogue different competencies, both individual and institutional.”             Calin Dan, 2007

Calin Dan was born in Arad, Romania and is now based in Amsterdam.  He received an MA in Art History & Theory at the University of Fine Arts, Bucharest, and was the editor of Romania’s art magazine Arta.  In 1990, Dan began working with a partner Jozif Király in the art group SubReal.  Since 1999, he has also been exhibiting solo work, primarily as part of his Emotional Architecture project.  Most recently, he has exhibited at the Sydney Biennale, ZKM Karlsruhe, Stroom, the Hague, and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest.

Generous support of Calin Dan’s visits to Charleston and this exhibition is provided by the Mondrian Foundation, the Netherlands, and the College of Charleston (including the Provost’s Discretionary Fund, the Dean of the School of the Arts, and the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences).