PEER PLEASURE I

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts presents Peer Pleasure I: The Royal Art Lodge, Space 1026 and Instant Coffee, running January 13 through March 26, 2006. Peer Pleasure I showcases three artist groups from the US and Canada who work together on projects that involve communication and interactivity. Presenting new possibilities for social engagement within the gallery space, these collectives foster a spirit of inclusion and collaboration that lends their practice its creative spark. The joy that comes from being part of a tight-knit group is evident in the playful nature of much of the work on view.

This show is one of the four successive exhibitions at YBCA that highlight a growing trend in visual art—collaborative artist activity. Peer Pleasure I is also part of the Center’s “Future Shock” series, one of the Big Ideas that guide the 05-06 programming. Work associated with the Big Idea of Future Shock, investigates reactions to a hyper-modernized world. Some common strands that run throughout these works is the spirit of collaboration and artists forming microcommunities, intended to bring artistic activity and critical dialog back down to human scale. It’s a type of socially-engaged artmaking that privileges the process of working and spending time together, over a finished end product.

“Peer Pleasure I is a very social exhibition that celebrates creative interactions amongst artists and their peers. Even though many of the artists in the exhibition also have solo arts careers, they nonetheless gain fulfillment and inspiration from working closely with their peers and undertaking the creative process as members of a group,” states Golonu.

Marcel Dzama, Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, the artists who form The Royal Art Lodge, periodically take time out of their solo art careers to paint and draw together. Founded in 1996, the Winnipeg-based artist collective meet regularly to paint together. One artist might paint a background and a character, and then pass it off to another member, who may add something else to the composition. The works they produce are charming, glimpses of fantastical worlds where animals and humans commingle. At the end of each session, the artists evaluate the drawings and place them in one of three suitcases, a “sun” suitcase, a “sad cloud” suitcase for the less successful ones, or worse, in a “to be destroyed suitcase.” On view is a suite of 80 of their most recent collaborative paintings that have passed the suitcase-test.

The various artists affiliated with Space 1026, a cooperative workshop, studio space and gallery based in Philadelphia, have collaborated with Shelley Spector to construct an environment in the gallery inspired by the communal spaces of the building in which they convene to work and play. The group has worked together for seven years, and their collaborations, which are honest and unadulterated, are more often than not, accidents. A wall of wheatpasted posters perhaps documents the artists who have passed through Space 1026 most fittingly. It is described by one Space member as “one giant eruption of visual noise.” Utilizing the accumulated fragments of this wall as a point of inspiration, several of the Space 1026ers will create a collaborative wall installation in the Center’s galleries. The installation will be covered with wheatpasted and flat images, as well as objects created and collected by Space members over the past few years. Also on view will be a series of works by individual Space members which illustrate the spirit of connectivity and community interaction that the artists derive from their studio environment.

Instant Coffee, a group of six artists based in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, brings together artists, musicians, designers and other cultural producers under loosely themed events. The collective explores the division between studio and practice space, offering an alternative public space for its community to practice, often in very social settings. Instant Coffee will showcase their BASS Bench project, a custom-made lounge and DJ station where visitors can hang out and play records. They will also curate a series of interactive displays and weekly events with a network of Bay Area artists and performers to take place in and around the BASS Bench during the exhibition. Please check our website for a full action-packed list of events.

Royal Art Lodge is Marcel Dzama, Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber.

Space 1026ers are Courtney Dailey, Francesca Gangi, Jesse Goldstein, Jake Henry, Matthew Kosoy, Maximillian Lawrence, Thom Lessner, Jesse O., Hanif O’Neil, Caitlin Perkins, Elizabeth Leah Rywelski, Anthony Smyrski, Becky Suss, Rachel Vittorelli, Jeff Wiesner, Clint Woodside, Ben Woodward and Andrew Jeffrey Wright.

Instant Coffee’s most consistent members are Jinhan Ko, Jenifer Papararo, Kate Monro, Cecilia Berkovic and Jon Sasaki

Pressetext

PEER PLEASURE I
The Royal Art Lodge, Instant Coffee, and Space 1026
YBCA Galleries
Kurator: Berin Golonu

The Royal Art Lodge is Marcel Dzama, Michael Dumontier, Neil Farber

Space 1026 is Courtney Dailey, Francesca Gangi, Jesse Goldstein, Jake Henry, Matthew Kosoy, Maximillian Lawrence, Thom Lessner, Jesse O., Hanif O´Neil, Caitlin Perkins, Elizabeth Leah Rywelski, Anthony Smyrski, Becky Suss, Rachel Vittorelli, Jeff Wiesner, Clint Woodside, Ben Woodward, Andrew Jeffrey Wright

Instant Coffee is Jinhan Ko, Jenifer Papararo, Kate Monro, Cecilia Berkovic, Jon Sasaki