CONSTRUCTED REALITIES
Galleria Tofani
1441 S. 8th St. Philadelphia, PA 19147
Reception: May 15, 6 – 9pm
On view: May 15 – May 31
By appointment
“Constructed Realities is a group exhibition featuring an intergenerational group of artists working at the corners and intersections of artist books and book-adjacent objects. This survey investigates the book as a conceptual and exploratory form. The work in this show crosses between bound books, painting, zine, mailers, projection, and sculpture. The experience of these objects constantly fold and collapse into each other. Borders exist but they are not impossible to cross. Curated by Zane Schultz.”
Artists: Abbey Lakey, Anne Minich, Cassandra Gunkel, Dana O’Malley, Devin Barto, Ditta Baron Hoeber, Dona Nelson, Emma McHold-Burke, Jacob Stevens, Joe Sasso, Jon Weary, Jordan Speicher-Willis, Julia Marsh, Kailey Mackenzie Franks, Kim Altomare, Lane Timothy Speidel, Larry Becker, Matt Sepielli, Natalie Conway, Pomona Za, Quentin Morris, Quinn Dowd, Tom McDonald, Zane Schultz
I will be exhibiting a few original Pretzel Cities, my sometime newsletter of quotations and poetry. Jung says, "Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research." In my twenties and thirties, I read voraciously and kept notebooks full of my favorite quotations. I began to make "newsletters" of selected quotes. The titles of the newsletters changed often, with the most frequent being Pretzel City. It is my city in speech, a utopian world where we value what is wise and good. "It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there," says William Carlos Williams. This art form was also very mobile, forgiving, and convenient. When I was in precarious living situations, which was often, I could sit in coffee shops and knock these out. I left Pretzel City all over Philadelphia and mailed it to friends. It was important to me that it was a paper-based, anonymous object. And, while sometimes I included an email address, I never checked it. On the backs of the newsletters, I painted, drew, or constructed collages. Here, I am displaying one such collage. I am also showing the only Pretzel City made up of my own words: a long, rambling, stream of consciousness string of memories and perceptions.
