Category Archives: highlights

Cardboard, 2012

Julia Bradshaw, “Cardboard Photo Booth.”

Essay by Jim Heitzeberg

Cardboard is ubiquitous in our society. It is one of the foundations of our current economy allowing for the efficient packaging and transportation of goods. It touches our lives everyday and it scarcely registers with us. We have become so used to its presences that we just don’t pay any attention to it.

Attention is one of the tools we use to gather information about our world. It is a primal function one that has allowed us over the course of human history to pay attention to those thing that are life giving or life threathing.  We focus our attention at will when we are motivated to do so. One motivator for shifting our attention is a change of context of something in our enviroment. A couple of things happen when we place our attention on something.  The first is that as we see the thing we are paying attentiion to in more detail the second is that we begin seeing it in places that we had not noticed it before.

By shifting the context of cardboard from our daily environment at large to the gallery we are forced to focus more of our attention on cardboard than we normally would. We consider what we know about the attributes and uses of cardboard and apply that to  the art before us. The artist must recognize the same uses and attributes as the viewer and play on them to bring meaning to the art work.

There is the work of several artists represented in the show an each focused on the subject of cardboard from a slightly different angle. One piece plays with the ideas of modern technology and our expectation of instant results. There are pieces that play with the definitions of what they are made to represent. Understanding how we respond to the painted image cardboard is elevated as it becomes the subject of paintings and asks for our attention in the same way a more traditional subject would. Cultures have always produced images of what was important to their mythology from easily accessed materials i.e. wood, clay, fiber. By rendering familiar religious and cultural imagery in cardboard, one of today’s most plentiful materials, these ideas and the frameworks from which choices are made and meaning is derived are examined.

Have fun with the show. Watch how your mind refocuses your attention and using what you know about cardboard ask questions about what a given piece is pointing to and what questions it is asking. We are all part of the same cultural experience so the answers are not hidden.

video link for Cardboard Photo Booth by Julia Bradshaw

Alterations, 2011

Leslie Batty

This project reconsiders issues of feminine identity construction in light of my own recent diagnosis and recovery from breast cancer. As with previous work, ideas are explored by use of instructional sewing imagery and language from an era in western society when women primarily made their own clothing at home. Alterations particularly deals with the experience of undergoing a physical reconstruction and its social-psychological affects on self-image.

The materials and processes in these works are meant to further convey these concepts. While there may not always be stylistic similarities between the pieces, they are linked by recurring concerns and through subject matter.

Most of the women portrayed in this exhibit are friends of mine who have had their own personal experience with breast cancer and reconstructive surgery. With this project, I hope to acknowledge and honor their courage and friendship as well as the skilled surgeons who carefully reconstructed our bodies so that we could be well. A special thanks to my team of doctors: Margaret Hadcock, Christopher Perkins, and Carl Askren, the latter of whom is as much an artist himself as he is a scientist.

Recreation, 2011

William Raines, "Recreation" members group show, June 2011

William Raines, “Recreation” members group show, June 2011

"Recreation" at Corridor 2122, June 2011.

“Recreation” at Corridor 2122, June 2011.

CSUF Grad Student Invitational, 2011

Students featured:  Dawn Hart, Jordan Maliksi, Murleen Ray, Eliana Saucedo, Chris Scharnick, Kristina Stork.

Air, 2010

CSUF Grad Student Invitational, 2010

The opening reception:

Splash – Altered Narratives, 2009

a William Raines Invitational

Artists shown: Auroras Armijo, Bob Barnes, Amy Blount Lay, Kristi Paulette Fleming, Michael Garcia, Donna Hopson, Anne Magana, Karl Petion, Peggy Quinlan, William Raines, Terrance Reimer, Mary Yoder.

 

CSUF Grad Student Invitational, 2009

2009 marked the first time that Corridor members worked with the faculty from the Department of Art and Design at Fresno State (CSUF) to provide the Graduate Students at CSUF with an opportunity to professionally exhibit their work. Students were selected based on their application packets, and studio visits were made for the selection of work that would be included in the show. The show was curated by Stephen Dent, Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg and Kirtley King. Students selected to participate were Jill Tisdale, Peter Janzen, Zachary Welch, Chris Scharnick, Leslie Batty, Meiru Wong and Autumn Lencioni.

 

I Have Legitimate Concerns, 2009

Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg

For the month of February, I will undertake the task of reading as many items from my personal art library as possible. This project stems from my belief that I have an inadequate knowledge of art and is my attempt to rectify that situation.

What is presented here tonight are the raw materials I have provided myself for this undertaking: an area in which to read, eat, and store my books; every art related book, magazine, article, and pamphlet I own; and a reading schedule.

The project will culminate in an exhibition during the month of March in which I will present documentation of my activities and a summation of the work

Reading Schedule
(The gallery will be open to the public during reading hours)

Friday, February 6, 9:00 – 5:00
Saturday, February 7, 12:00 – 4:00
Sunday, February 8, 12:00 – 4:00
Monday, February 9, 4:00 – 5:00
Tuesday, February 10, 9:00 – 5:00
Wednesday, February 11, 4:00 – 5:00
Thursday, February 12, 9:00 – 5:00
Friday, February 13, 9:00 – 5:00
Saturday, February 14, 12:00 – 4:00
Sunday, February 15, 12:00 – 4:00
Monday, February 16, 4:00 – 5:00
Tuesday, February 17, 9:00 – 5:00
Wednesday, February 18, 4:00 – 5:00
Thursday, February 19, 9:00 – 5:00
Friday, February 20, 9:00 – 5:00
Saturday, February 21, 12:00 – 4:00
Sunday, February 22, 12:00 – 4:00
Monday, February 23, 4:00 – 5:00

Shrines, 2008

Essay by Jim Heitzeberg

Shrines

Variously the dictionary defines a shrine as: a holy place because of its association with a sacred person or relic, typically marked by a building or other construction; a place associated with or containing memorabilia of a particular revered person or thing; a casket containing sacred relics; a reliquary; or, a niche or enclosure containing a religious statue or other object.

All the pieces in this show meet the formal aspects of shrines to one degree or another but vary widely in what they enshrine. One of the pieces speaks to ways that death is defied if lasting effigies are erected. Other pieces draw on current cultural practices of enshrining family culture and erecting memorials to the recently departed. There are pieces that start with traditional shrine or niche shapes but alter the established content in ways that asks questions about our expectations and how they effect our interpretations of what we are viewing. Some works speak to the effort and scale we commit to mark that which is seen as sacred, while others look at our society’s current move away from the mysterious.

We are a culture that uses shrines to honor the celebrity, remember a disaster, mark the location of a traffic accident or drive by shooting and are still able to recognize the heritage that makes theses acts of enshrinement significant.

In total the works shown here form a visual and intellectual exploration of an impulse and a practice common to every culture and society.

Embalmed Twilight, 2008

Kirtley King

Recollection, 2008

signage

Essay by Jim Heitzeberg

The work of all artists traces culture. It is a bit like the work of archeology uncovering and studying the bits and pieces that made up a society. The artist, of course, chooses what materials or objects will be used while the archeologists must be content with what can be found. But, both draw inferences and create elaborate constructs from the cultural artifacts that they work with.

Artists often start their work with what is closest to them so the initial encounter with a work may seem to be personal and even private. But, none of us exist in a vacuum so the images used to make art must refer, at some point, to the greater culture as well as the personal. The artist’s tools allow them to expand meanings and extend concepts by the juxtaposition of images and the use of signs and symbols. While archeology draws information from objects the artist adds meaning to the objects or images used. We do respond to art works for their formal value but our understanding of an art piece is dependent on our understanding of the culture or subculture that it refers to.

Steve Dent’s current work is a good example of these ideas. Steve is using family snapshots as the subject of his new painting series “Recollection”. While family snapshots have personal meaning these images also serve as markers for the culture of the seventies. The use of rich layered backgrounds that are full of obscured detail is a device that reminds us of the myriad of cultural and personal moments and the actions and interactions that make up our understandings and reactions.

Splash, 2008

a William Raines invitational

Artists shown: Bob Barnes, Kristi Bollin, Terrence Reimer, Sarah Jane Alexander, David Hicks, Mary Yoder, Anne Magana, J.J. Johnson, William Raines

For food, politics or moral reasons, 2008

a William Raines Invitational

Artists shown: de bassecour + esther, Mike Griffith, Amy Harlin Lay, Julianna Ostrovsky, Tim Padilla, Karl Petion, William Raines, Mary Yoder.

Paint Job: Explorations of painting strategies, 2007

Nick Potter, Edward Lund, Melissa Delaney

Subsidence, 2006

Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg

On Drawing, 2005

 

mona_lisa.jpg, 2005

MP_Mona-Lisa

from the press release:

In “mona_lisa.jpg”, Stephen Dent explores the cult-like phenomenon of the Mona Lisa through the use of images, text and sound appropriated from a wide range of internet based sources. Leonardo daVinci’s Mona Lisa is perhaps the most recognized art work in history. Is this because she is the greatest painting of all time, or because we as viewers have assigned so much meaning to her? Can she still be viewed as simply a “painting”, or have her mythological proportions overpowered how we look at her? Dent states, “She is the most popular holy relic of Western culture, housed in the Cathedral of Western culture and millions of people make the pilgrimage every year. What is most interesting to me is not the painting itself, but peoples’ response to and interaction with the painting.”

“mona_lisa.jpg” not only investigates how people look at the painting through the hundreds of vacation pictures presented, but also how the viewers describe the experience through the use of language as revealed in the various file naves assigned to their images. The investigation of language is echoed with a recording of Marcel Duchamp reading his notes. Duchamp’s connection to the Mona Lisa dates back to 1919, with his work L.H.O.O.Q.

Artist Statement:

ML-Notes-2x3-copy

Materials of Difference, 2005

a William Raines Invitational

Artists shown: Bob Barnes, Rod Fitiausi, Michele Fox, Mary Olilla, William Raines, Linda Richmond, Tom Wilson, Jame Zarl, David Gottini, Willie Sapp.

Untitled (Acts:), 2005

Statement by Edward Lund

Untitled (Acts:)

Like many people I’ve enjoyed such films as Rear Window, Man-hunter, Silence of the Lambs, and Mystic River; and Law and Order, CSI, and Millennium on television. These are suspenseful stories of horrific crimes and the attempts to solve them. There are clues to by interpreted, evidence to analyze, alibis to verify, timelines to be evaluated, and someone to be found guilty of the heinous act.

We don’t value solving corporate crimes the way we seek out the entertainment of solving a homicide, rape, or child abduction. We are attracted to the plights of the subjects of our entertainment – the more gruesome the better. We are addicted to a morbid curiosity. Our vicarious participation allows us to overcome our most innate fears by investing in someone else’s misery.

I’ve created the four elements in this environment as clues to a possible scenario. Evidence indicates that certain events have taken place. the viewer/participant is offered the entertainment of arriving at a solution.

 

Video Work, 2005

Brian Springer // Jesse Wilson and Diran Lyons // Janice Kang

Brian Springer, "Spin".

Brian Springer, “Spin”.

Curated by Yumi Kinoshita and Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg, Video Work showcased the work of Santa Barbara based video artists Brian Springer, Janice Kang, Jesse Wilson and Diran Lyons. Two works by Brian Springer were featured in the exhibition, “I Trust You” and “Spin”. The later of which the New York Times called “a devastating critique of television’s profound manipulativeness in the way it packages the news and politics.” Brian Springer’s work has been shown at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Germany, the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), the Whitney Museum (NYC), the Institute for Contemporary Art (London), and the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and has been broadcast nationally in the U.K. and by over 80 PBS affiliates in the US.

 

Recent Work, 2005

Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg and Yumi Kinoshita

Rollback, 2004

Statement by Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg

The idea for this installation came about when I heard a public radio program about the Pulitzer Prize winning expose on WalMart that was published in the Los Angeles Times (see Sources and Documents). During the program, a caller who had done business with WalMart described the lobby where prospective vendors wait to meet with WalMart buyers. He described a room with little more than a receptionist’s desk and rows and rows of metal folding chairs. The idea that the world’s largest corporation was not willing to spend the money to provide decent chairs shocked me. That shock was replaced by irritation when I realized what a blatant and unnecessary exercise this was. In the relationship with their vendors, WalMart holds all the cards. Successful and unsuccessful vendors say the same thing about dealing with WalMart; give them what they want or they will not do business with you. WalMart is ruthless when it comes to getting what they want. This can be seen as a positive or a negative, depending on what side of the profits you are. Within the WalMart culture, all things come down to price. There is nothing that will not be sacrificed to get a better price for the customer. For WalMart things are simple, you are either with them or against them.

The more I read about WalMart and other giant corporations, the more I realize that there are no easy answers. As much as people dislike WalMart, its economic force is undeniable. You cannot simply wish away the corporate culture that now fuels the world’s economy. Each of us, in our daily lives, makes choices that cause us to be more beholden to corporate power. If we do not have some idea how the system works, we cannot understand our place in it.

This installation is designed to illustrate the nature of WalMart and the individual’s relationship to it. I do not have an interest in telling people what to think about this issue, but rather in suggesting that we all need to make our own informed decisions.

Grand Opening, 2004