John J. McGurk is an artist who founded Elwa Productions in 2007 with the mission of promoting and curating shows with young, usually unrepresented artists. He is a graduate of RISD and has worked at galleries in Providence, RI (The Steelyard, Firehouse 13) and NYC (Aicon Gallery, Mikhail Zakin Gallery).
John J will lead a Junta discussion on Friday April, 30 at 6pm. Here he explains his topic:
Avant-garde, Modernism, Impressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Conceptualism, Pop, Post-Modern, Post-Pop, Neoism, YBA’s.
In the 20th century the artist moved from purely an object maker and into the realm of politics and social interrogation. Duchamp began this process as the antagonist to traditions by breaking every rule in the book, opening art up to a much larger and undefined cultural space. As a result, the Dadaists confronted us with the absurd, the Surrealists took us into our subconscious, while the Situationists took us headlong into politics.
Nowadays, movements and generalities about the art world are harder to define. The overlap, derivative, mash-ups of contemporary styles and techniques make it a very interesting time. All the knowledge of the past seems to be funneled into today, with artists able to take advantage of the past’s analog techniques while combining them with digital and computer technologies.
Elwa is most interested in where this overlap takes place. That is why we represent artists using traditional mediums, such as pottery and ceramics, while incorporating new technologies and techniques unavailable only ten years ago. Artists that are speaking to our time in some way: through painterly investigations of technology, or sculptural creations that speak about our role in nature.
Many people find contemporary art foreboding and elitist. Its meaning or intention can be lost on many viewers. In many ways the insular and elitist nature of the art world is intentional. These hierarchies are created and maintained through art school training, art criticism, social standing, and most cynically, manipulation. Although not the focus of our discussion, it is important to understand some of ways in which “great” art is defined and promoted.
Elwa’s goal is to try and dismantle some of this façade: to show that in fact, contemporary art is more accessible than ever before. Talent is all over the place, not just at museums. Great art is not just for billionaires and kings.
This will be a BYOB Junta, held in a private apartment.
6pm-8pm, Friday, April 30. BYOB. Address forthcoming.
I feel that art is just a distraction from the hopeless nihilistic ennui that plagues our existence…. No, I’m kidding, I just really wanted to write that.
I think the topic looks great and we’re going to have several people that are either artists or very interested in the subject. I’m interested in the statement by Helene Hegemann, the teenage German novelist whose book created a sensation and then was hit with charges of plagiarism. She contends that a new generation of artists has grown up with mix-tapes/mash-ups and the like the conventional idea of plagiarism doesn’t hold anymore. I’m particularly intrigued by her quote that “there is no originality, only authenticity”; I think this will be relevant to the discussion next Friday.
Jeremy, this is an interesting thread that the discussion could take. I am sure we will jump around, but this is a particularly interesting idea about the idea of originality. In particular in the light of copyright law and its use/over use. There are a tons of artists working in this realm, to many to name, but a couple over the past few years that have stirred the pot from time to time are the Yes Men and 0100101110101101.org. Corporate spoofing, high design impersonation, and general mischief in the activist art scene. Links to their sites are below:
http://0100101110101101.org/
http://theyesmen.org/
It also makes me think of the very famous essay in 1936 by Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. In it he talks about what new technologies will do to art: its creation, its dissemination, and its reception by the public at large. He focuses on authenticity and the authors voice. It is a classic, worth checking out in anticipation of our discussion. You can check it out here:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm
I will try to post some more links and ideas in the run up to the live discussion.
Emergency Broadcast Network, some of the originals in this musical video mash up style:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO_FlmXlIRM&feature=related