Active directions of the mind
A.I.R. National Members Exhibition 2019
Mimi Oritsky, Wet on Bright No.1, 2017, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches.
May 23 – June 23, 2019
Opening Reception: May 23, 2019, 6-8pm
Hend Al-Mansour, Diane Cionni, d’Ann de Simone, Kathryn Hart, Jody Joldersma, Katherine Mann, Jennifer McCandless, Mimi Oritsky, Ruth Owens, Allison Paschke, Simone Paterson, Laura Petrovich Cheney, Alice Pixley Young, Martha Sedgwick, Ann Stoddard, Marlana Stoddard Hayes, Vicky Tomayko, Ellyn Weiss, Holly Wong, and Mineko Yoshida
Curated by Alexis Wilkinson
The 2019 A.I.R. National Members exhibition, Active directions of the mind, highlights the ways in which attention can operate as an activated mode of questioning and care, as expressed by the artworks included.
To give attention to something is generous; it denotes consideration and observant care, and the artwork made by twenty of A.I.R. Gallery’s National Members demonstrates their orientation toward a thoughtful mode of attending to. They create artworks with a wide range of stylistic and material approaches, reflecting a plurality of experiences and perspectives that A.I.R. has historically embraced since its inception — a testament to the fact that we each see, hear, feel, experience, and perceive differently.
At its root, the term attention is defined by “active direction of the mind upon some object or topic,” a mind which is “stretching toward.” Considering that active minds do wander, the logic of the exhibition as installed in the galleries at A.I.R. is intended to allow the viewer to be guided by the artworks of the National Members, organized not by formal or thematic groupings but instead with adjacencies that are intended to amplify ideas, resonate formally, and reveal unexpected affinities. If we look closely, we might notice that, together, the works in the exhibition signal the ways that difference can spark generative dialogue.
Read the full press release here.
