NinaJohnson

: Second Skin

November 14th - December 19th, 2009

Second Skin

Face Act Performance by Pia Lindman December 2nd – 6th

Ownership is a driving force behind contemporary art. Desire, which turns to need, the need to acquire, live with, and take possession of some particular thing, drives the market that is often seen as the sustenance to contemporary artistic practice. Though, when ownership and the “market” are commonly discussed, they are generally being referred to in economic terms; ownership in terms of the collectors’ specific possession of a particular and tangible object, and the market, as the system of trends and practices that make this exchange possible.

In this exhibition ownership has become a more corporeal term, it has come to mean the ownership over an appropriated idea, personality, persona, or creative train of thought… like a sly creature who slinks into an uninhabited den and claims it for his own, these artists are crawling into the thoughts, bodies, objects, and sounds of historical artists they reference, p opular culture icons, or imaginary personas that serve as enablers to their practice… the market for these artists has not changed, it doesn’t alter, the kind of ownership they seek is always available for exchange.

Works By:

Brian Burkhardt
Clifton Childree
Liz Cohen
Charley Friedman
Jim Gladstone and Richard Höglund
Peter Labier
Julie Lequin
Pia Lindman
Abby Manock
Daniel Milewski
Shana Moulton
Clifford Owens