Don’t you love it!

1708 Gallery is announcing a May 1, 2009 postmark deadline for exhibition proposals. 1708 Gallery is seeking exhibition proposals from emerging and established artists (students are not eligible) and curators for its 2010 exhibition season. Artists and curators may submit proposals for single or group shows of all media.

• Exhibition Proposal – Be specific about what work you wish to show at 1708 Gallery (no longer than one page). See 1708gallery.org for a gallery floor plan.

• Images of your work: The show should be no more than 3 years old and indicative of what you wish to exhibit at 1708 Gallery. Digital Images: Send 10 to 20 images in jpeg format only (no larger than 1024 pixels in any direction at 300 dpi). All image files are to be numbered to correspond to image list and include artist’s last name (ex. 01SmithXXX.jpg). Label the CD with your name. Video/DVD: Send 5 to 7 clips lasting no more than 3-4 minutes each. (Digital media in mpeg format only). In addition to the clips, you may send one complete work if longer than the 3-4 minute limit. Label the video/DVD with your name. (Please also include one digital image in jpeg format on a CD.)

• Image List – a numerical listing including artist’s and/or curator’s name, title, date, dimensions, medium.

• Resume and bio

• Artist or Curatorial Statement

• Special Needs- If necessary, an explanation of any special installation, equipment, and/or funding requirements with exact amounts listed.

• Contact Information – Name, address, phone number(s) and email address of the artist(s) and/or curator(s) involved in the proposal.

• S.A.S.E. For return of materials. (If not included, materials will not be returned).

• $20 entry fee – paid by check made out to 1708 Gallery or call the gallery to pay by credit card.

Only complete proposal packages will be considered. Please label all materials with the artist’s/curator’s names. Review process may take up to 6 months.

1708 Gallery is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution providing access to exhibitions, arts and education programs.

For more information, please contact: Tatjana Beylotte at tbeylotte@1708gallery.org or 804/643-1708. Read the rest of this entry »

1708 Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition featuring Jeremy Drummond and Rod Northcutt opening this Friday, April 17th at 1708 Gallery. Both artists will give an artist talk at 6:30pm on April 17, 2009 at 1708 Gallery followed by a public reception.

Jeremy Drummond’s 65-Point Plan for Sustainable Living, a collection of 65 aerial images depicting every Canadian Province and US State will be on view. Each image portrays a single subdivision that has been digitally reconstructed into an enclosed geographical space, with no roads leading in or out.

Maryland by Jeremy Drummond

As an installation, these images are displayed to loosely reflect their original geographic and spatial relationship – functioning as a re-mapping of Canada and the USA. As a multiple, these images are printed as an edition of standard postcards.

South Carolina by Jeremy Drummond

Contemporary suburban environments are architecturally designed as spaces one can only experience through the window of a moving vehicle. Physical connections to space are reduced only to points of departure and arrival, often resulting in isolation and ambivalence towards the environment in which one exists. With contemporary web-based technologies, a total collapse in space and time has rendered physical experience obsolete.

Jeremy Drummond received a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Western Ontario and in 2003, a MFA in Art Media Studies from Syracuse University. His work has been exhibited widely in festivals, galleries and museums throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Since 2001, he has curated close to 50 programs of independent video for festivals, galleries and museums in North America and Europe. He is represented by ADA Gallery and teaches in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Richmond (Richmond, VA).
http://www.jeremydrummond.com/

Luddite by Rod Northcutt

Rod Northcutt mixes the languages of biology, woodworking, and social theory to create sculptures, drawings, and site-specific installations that explore and illustrate social analogs between humans and the natural world. Rod Northcutt’s work is founded in scientific methodology, biological and cultural symbiosis, and the social history of making. It is evidence of a long-standing interest in the anthropology of systems, be those systems of art, material culture, or the animal human dialogue.

In this body of work, through a series of drawings, Northcutt illustrates the tools and methods (with beaks, teeth, mandibles) of animals, specifically indigenous design/builders (beavers, termites, woodpeckers, etc.) as they “make”. On an additional level, the sculpture and installations cite human social events and situations as prepared scenes. Some of the smaller presentation pieces and tools have been created in the style of commemorative gifts for beaver-centric labor societies and fraternal organizations.

Schools of Architecture and Design detail by Rod Northcutt

Also on hand are tools that appear to be “beaver made” suggesting a historical archive of natural construction science.

Rod Northcutt received his MFA in sculpture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BFA in painting and drawing/biology from The University of North Texas. He has exhibited nationally and internationally at the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art: Chicago, DePaul University Museum of Art, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, and many others. He designs furniture and structures under the name of onesixtyfourth design and works collaboratively with green/sustainable design collectives including Material Exchange and Experimental Station.

Accommodations for the artist is provided by Linden Row Inn.

The Melting Pot is generously contributing a percentage of their dinner sales to 1708 Gallery on March 26, 2009. Supporting 1708 Gallery has never been this easy and delicious! Call 741-3120 to make a reservations (reservations are recommended but not required). Thanks!

Stacy Searcy

1708 Gallery presents Rain or Shine an exhibition featuring Kate Bingaman Burt, Sarah Hollis, Ryan Mulligan and Stacy Searcy.

The exhibition opens this Friday, March 6th with an artist talk at 6:30pm followed by a reception with the artists.

The artists in the exhibition insist on the daily act of art making. These four artists are adamant about the cyclic habit and its necessity to the context of their work. Moreover, each artist intends their work to be viewed in series or multiples because the form of production demands context. Like journaling, it is a self imposed regiment with no compromise. It is definitive and resolute about the necessity of routine. The limits of the day demand inventiveness. These perpetual devotions universalize the creative habit. These four workaholics are addicted.

Kate Bingaman Burt is an Assistant Professor of Art at Portland State University. She
received an MFA from the University of Nebraska and a BA from the College of the
Ozarks. For the last four years, she has produced drawings inspired from her daily
purchases, no matter how mundane. Binagman-Burt’s work explores the relationship
between people and their possessions as well as the consumer culture. Her work has
been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe as well as on National Public
Radio. More information about her work can be found here:
http://obsessiveconsumption. typepad.com

Chicago artist Sarah Hollis questions the notion of what constitutes a book in her
work “If Found, Please Return.” This project is a compilation of scanned material, both
art and text, from her sketchbooks which allows for the viewer to see the entire work
simultaneously. The work tests the boundaries of narrative, reading and authenticity.
Hollis is a graduate of Art Academy of Cincinnati and earned an MFA from the University
of Cincinnati.

VCU graduate Ryan Mulligan is back in town to show his low-tech installations. An
assistant professor of art at the University of Cincinnati, his work draws from
autobiographical resources as well as his obsession with pop culture and history which
relies on dark comedy and the mythologizing daily experiences. Full of humor and
playfulness his work is highly energetic and off-kilter explorations of private fears
displayed as Wunderkammers.

Chicago architect Stacy Searcy uses her camera in order to capture the ever changing
sky. A desire to record this evolution became the driving force behind this body of
artwork. Beginning on February 1, 2006 and continuing each day to the present, she has
faithfully captured a small portion of this infinity through her camera lens. A linear form
of documentation, the photographs serve to acknowledge a geographical place and a
precise time. A native of Cincinnati, Searcy has a BA in Fine Arts from the College of
Mount St. Joseph, a post-Baccalaureate certificate in painting from the Art Institute of
Chicago as well as a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati.