First Friday’s art circuit was surprisingly quiet last night. The hot weather and the holiday weekend may have been factors. But it was easier to spend time with art rather than socializing.
Rochester had the 4th highest rate of homicides in the U.S. with firearms as the most common cause of death.’ There were 351 shooting victims last year. As a result, the city has been under an official gun violence state of emergency since July 21, 2022. The ten placards shown above are part of “We Remember” an installation by Gays Against Guns, currently on view in a show called “Unconditional Care” at Rochester Contemporary. Although this is certainly more pressing than any art concern I expected more of an art spin in this setting. Maybe the the take-away is we should address this issue first and then make art.
Over a Studio 402 I was knocked out by Nancy Valle’s section of wall in a group show. Cut, folded and inked cardboard pieces based on envelopes of all sizes were mounted to the wall. They were intriguing, playful and organic all at once. And then, where you see the blank spots, Nancy had hung three rectangular mono prints created with these playful pieces. Nancy was standing nearby and I couldn’t help but offer an observation. I suggested she separate the three rectangular prints from these beauties. In a dramatic move Nancy took the three pieces off the wall in the middle of her show. She plans to rearrange the Correspondence presentation.
The remainder of the rising orange blue moon was straight ahead as we drove down East Main so we made a bee line to Kathy’s backyard overlooking Irondequoit Bay and watched it slowly return to white.
3 Comments
Why separate them, Paul? Based on their shape, or something else?
I should have taken a before photo with the three matted, framed prints in the blank spaces of this photo but I never expected Nancy to take them right off the wall. I guess the three prints tried to trap this motif with impressions of the envelopes and took the life out of these free range pieces. The prints looked great on their own.
Is there anywhere I can see the placards larger, so I can read them, Paul? I have to say, escaping the gun violence of mainland USA has been a real lift to the spirit. Not that there aren’t troubles and violence everywhere, just that I don’t like living in gun toting America 🙁 . It feels hellish to me.