Invite to a Group Show I'm in Thurs, Sept.23

Hope you can make it by. – Carla

INTIMACY

CURATED BY DAVID GIBSON

SANDRA BERMUDEZ CHINA BLUE KIM CONNERTON ANNETTE CYR JEN DENIKE
CARLA GANNIS ELIZABETH HENDLER AMY JENKINS
JENNIFER KARADY ALEXIS KARL NORMA MARKLEY LEEMOUR PELLI
GAE SAVANNAH RAVEN SCHLOSSBERG ROXANNE WOLANCZYK

SEPTEMBER 23-OCTOBER 24, 2004
RECEPTION: THURSDAY, SEPT 23, 8-11 PM

BROOKLYN FIRE PROOF, INC.
101 Richardson Street between Leonard & Meeker, Top Floor,
Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211
Extended Gallery Hours: Friday, Saturday and Sunday 1 - 6 PM /
call 718 302 4702 for an appointment
email: [email protected] website:
http//www.brooklynfireproof.com

Directions from Bedford: walk north on Bedford Av. Turn right onto
N. 11 that becomes Richardson St. after crossing Union Av.
Subway*: L to Lorimer or G to Metropolitan. Walk north towards the
raised BQE highway. Turn right onto Meeker and walk beneath the BQE
to Leonard. Turn left onto Leonard and walk one block and turn
right onto Richardson. 101 is on left in the middle of the block.
*check the mta for service advisories.
Car: Take Exit 33 McGuinness Blvd. + Humbolt St. off the BQE
highway. Turn left at light at end of ramp. Turn left at light
under the BQE onto Meeker. Veer right onto Richardson just before
the bill board sign at the service station.

This exhibition brings together a group of artists whose work is
characterized by a willingness to confront extremely personal
issues and the social forces which actively demean them. it can
easily be said that every artist places themselves in an intimate
situation. Isolated with their art, far from the vicissitudes of
social life, the artist finds a new truth. Yet how does that truth
express itself in the larger world?

Cumulatively the quality of intimacy as it serves the artist, and
as the artist's themes in turn serve society becomes as important
as the need for it. The use of the term itself has many variables,
depending on usage, it can infer commonality, vulnerability, and
knowledge.

An emotionally charged art is often the product of forces around it
which either apply normative concerns, pressuring the artist to
repress the intimate concern, or to focus solely upon matters of
craft. However, their adverse reaction becomes the fruit of
discovery: narratives develop and symbols emerge, which dramatize
the need for intimacy.

Intimacy itself is rarely the focus in art criticism, since it is
not superficially topical, nor does it have a specific historical
reference. But it does have something to do with the dynamics of
contemporary emotional life, and the ways in which we have become
accustomed to repressing or generalizing our responses to issues
that relate directly back to the inner life of emotions our
repository for reactions to experience.

There are very few avenues in contemporary life for people to talk
about their emotions, since it's generally assumed that families
are dysfunctional and that we address our problems either directly,
via therapy; or indirectly, by allowing a vast number of media
sources, such as NPR Radio, Oprah Winfrey, and various TV dramas
and sitcoms, to aid us in running the gamut of our emotions.

After party at M Shanghai Bistro from 11 PM - 2 AM, 129 Havemeyer Street
between
Grand Street + S 1st Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211