THE UNWRITTEN QUARTERLY WILL BE IN THE SHOW “COPY.RIGHT?” AT 33 CONTEMPORARY GALLERY IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
My newsprint magazine The Unwritten Quarterly will be part of a show opening on February 15 at 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago. The show, “copy.right?,” is juried and curated by Sergio Gomez (33 Contemporary Gallery director) and Jennifer Moore (photographer). The show will be up until March 9, 2013.
The Unwritten Quarterly is a magazine dedicated to the fabrication of life and the editor of the magazine, one Bernardo Soares, could be said to be a darker version of myself. In his editorial letter he writes: “I once created a writer, whom I used as a tool, so that I could eventually make myself into nothing. I made myself into nothing so that I could become everything and everyone. I am several, am many, I am a profusion of selves. In the process I may have lost myself. But what I really gained was the possibility of becoming anyone.” Herein lies the clue to the nature of the magazine. As an artist I have taken the shape of many different characters, many of whom have been created by others. One example would be the article written by Gregor Samsa – the struggling insect in Kafka’s novel “Metamorphosis.” But in my article he managed to escape his apartment and is now living in the nearby park. The literary components of the magazine are to some degree built upon existing fiction. The images are likewise built upon existing material, but in this case I have created composited images based on photographs found browsing the Internet.
Curatorial statement:
As long as there have been artists, there have been artists who appropriate. To appropriate is to borrow elements in the creation of new work. Appropriation recontextualises whatever it borrows to create something new. In some cases the original ‘thing’ remains accessible as the original, without change, but in other cases, the new work takes on a completely different facade and ultimately new meaning. Thus, blurring the line of what is fair usage and challenging the implications of copyright laws. The practice of appropriation can be traced back before the Renaissance, but became popular with the Surrealists, Dadaists, Pop Artists and the Neo-Geo Artists when mass production became a cultural norm.
Art is not created in a bubble. Artists are influenced by almost everything: the internet, television, literature, history, news and even other artists. The “copy.right?” exhibition seeks to give forum to contemporary artists who explore the idea of appropriation through concept, materials, awareness and who also challenge global mass culture.
