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Welcome to Venison's Weekly Blog! Here you will find advice, show reviews, thoughts and short articles by the Venison Team. We welcome your input comments and thoughts in return! 
​Thanks for reading Venison Magazine!

Quarterly

Review | A Narrow Passage

11/3/2017

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A Narrow Passage
​Noysky Projects
​6727 ⅞ Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Exhibition Dates | Oct 14th - Nov 12th, 2017​
Closing Reception | Sunday, Nov 12th, 3-6pm

A Narrow Passage at Noysky Projects

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Installation shot including James Gilbert's "It May be Time to Rethink the Way You Think"
Noysky Projects is tucked away between souvenir shops in the heart of Hollywood, Los Angeles. As you approach the building, you’re invited to walk down a corridor of shops, a seemingly narrow passage, where you’re met by a quaint water fountain. I​t’s as if A Narrow Passage was meant to be curated by Noysky Projects. If I’ve learned anything from Elizabeth Gilbert, it’s that the right concepts meet the right people at exactly the right time. The theme of concealment, constriction, and compression invite us to consider the restrictions laid upon each other socially and politically, whether mentally or physically.

Review by Nazish Chunara

You’re immediately immersed in the theme of the show when you arrive, which is the best way to experience art. It May be Time to Rethink the Way You Think by James Gilbert towers over you as you enter the gallery. With the use of wood, wax, rope, and hand dyed canvas - materials commonly utilized to create art, this piece explores the loss of it, whether by natural disaster or systematic oppression, creating the need for protection. This piece is comfortably overwhelming, questioning structure and safety with all its weight. It May be Time to Rethink the Way You Think acts as a barrier that provides comfort, but simultaneously makes you wonder if you should cross it and continue inside. 
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A Boat Rock // vinyl, plaster, metal chain, rope // 19' x 19" x 33" // 2017 // Lana Duong
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Unititled (Ground) // vinyl, tuffstone, strapping // 12" x 14" x 18" // 2017 // May Wilson
​From Lana Duong’s A Boat Rock, hanging freely but tied at its waist acting as a buoy, that itself needs saving, to Katya Usvitsky’s Connection, which alludes to the body with its stocking weighed down by what look like molecules, to May Wilson’s Untitled (Ground), literally on the ground and easy to miss in its dark and neutral color, as if a person was to curl up into a ball and make itself as small as possible, you can see that they are each waiting to expand - waiting for that moment they will be given permission to breathe.
Jenny Rask’s Clear Baby, created with spandex, tulle, salvaged cord and wool -- all of which we wear on our skin in some way, and Megan Mueller's Ssssss, created with hydro dipped frame and rope, materials that sound like they could be found in the shed in the backyard, make you want to touch your skin to explore whether it's tightening or shedding, or compressing into a surface of softness or roughness.
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Clear Baby // spandex, tulle, salvaged cord, wool // 19" x 11" x 4" // 2017 // Jenny Rask
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Sssssss // hydro dipped frame and rope // 24" x 14" x 1.5" // 2015 // Megan Mueller
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on or off (documentation is underway) // archival pigment print // 30" x 40" // 2017 // Jenalee Harmon
​Jenalee Harmon’s on or off (documentation is underway) is bright and so very immediate. The person shrouded in red satin hovers over something, and whether they're ready or not, the photo will be taken. This sculpted-like figure echoes a sense of concealment tied to a world that will keep rotating, no matter what.

Nicolas Shake’s works, as stated by the artist, begins as "theatrical in nature..." and broadly stated, is influenced by the communities in Los Angeles. TPV:EGG.1.2017 triggers the feeling of being bandaged, building with layers upon layers, action upon action, and when the light is just right, you can see it shine through an indentation at the bottom right.
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Connection // nylon, fiberfill // 40" x 10" // 2011// Katya Usvitsky
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TPV:EGG.I.2017 // polycaprolactone, petroleum, palm frond // 44.5" x 37.75" x 6.5" // 2017 // Nicolas Shake
The varying textures next to each other give way to a roller coaster of experiences in one room. ​​The use of material is fascinating, as most of these pieces do not use traditional or commonly used art materials to convey message or feeling. This is a show not to be missed. ​A Narrow Passage runs through November 12th, with a closing reception on Sunday, November 12th, 3pm - 6pm.

Press Release
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Gathering: Artist Spencer Merolla

8/8/2017

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Abrams Claghorn Gallery
1251 Solano Ave, Albany, California 94706
​
Showing July 5 - August 31, 2017
Recption: Saturday July 15, 5 - 7 pm 
Artist Talk: Saturday August 12, 5 - 7pm




www.spencermerolla.com
@spencermerolla
Nearly a year ago we spoke to Spencer Merolla about her art that utilizes worn fabrics, human hair and several other materials to explore our relationship with grief. In our Autumn 2016 issue, you'll learn about her earlier works including Hairworks and Funeral Clothes. You can see Enfold now on view at Abrams Claghorn as part of Gathering: A Venison Magazine Retrospective, through August 31st.
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Enfold // human hair, polyester film, acrylic on board // 7" x 9" // now on view at Abrams Claghorn

Artist Statement:

My work is concerned with bereavement: the tension between public and esoteric grief, social customs and material culture of mourning, and objects as repositories of memory which both retain and transmit meaning. Among the media I work with are human hair, clothing, and found photographs.
Funeral Clothes Project: After a Fashion
​This series is made from clothing worn in mourning. Inspired by a personal experience with a dress I wore to my mother’s funeral and could never bring myself to put on again, I asked family and friends whether they too had clothing too tainted by association to wear. Slowly I began collecting clothes–sometimes decades old–that had languished unworn in the backs of closets, too distressing to wear and too sentimental to just throw away. Handling these testaments of loss is a powerful experience, as every garment comes with a story. Joining them together allows for the creation of a symbolic location in which otherwise esoteric griefs become public and communal.
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After a Fashion I (detail) // clothing previously worn to funerals, foam, batting, thread // 2016
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Six word Novel // clothing previously worn to funerals, foam, batting, thread // 36" x 65" // 2016
Hairwork: Mourning Art for Moderns

This series takes the Victorian women's practice of sentimental hairwork as its jumping-off point. For the Victorians, mourning was a very public act. Rather than a esoteric emotion or an embarrassment, grief was a popular motif for the arts and fashion. What strikes modern sensibilities as mawkish and overly sentimental behavior was, at the time, considered proof of a person's sincerity and morality. Ornamental hairwork, painstakingly crafted from the hair of loved ones, was a fashion that insisted the wearer embodied these virtues. This work plays with the tension between sincerity and emotional performance, imagining a contemporary practice in which moderns might socially engage with death's physicality. The dissonance of the craft (when 
transposed onto the emotional and aesthetic landscape of our times) draws attention to the ever-shifting boundaries of permitted public display.

​That the hair must be severed from the body to be worked in this fashion is a compelling aspect of the practice for me. With few exceptions, the provenance of antique hairwork is now unknown. As a result, it loses its essential quality of referring to a specific person, while still being a distinctively “personal” object. In a sense, the story of hairwork is a testament not of our capacity to remember our lost loved ones, but of our ultimate inability to hold onto them.
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Blue Eye, Brown Eye, Dark Brown Eye (composite image of three pieces) // human hair and acrylic on paper // 4" x 4" each // 2014

See the work!

gathering: a venison magazine retrospective
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Gathering: Artist Samantha Rausch

8/3/2017

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​Abrams Claghorn Gallery
1251 Solano Ave, Albany, California 94706

Showing July 5 - August 31, 2017
Recption: Saturday July 15, 5 - 7 pm 
Artist Talk: Saturday August 12, 5 - 7pm




www.samantharausch.com
@sambinarausch
Read about Samanta Rauchs's interactive works that address space, by creating playgrounds on and off the wall in our Summer 2015 issue and see what she's up to now by following her work on Instagram @sambinarausch
​
Her piece ZERO, is up for viewing at Abrams Claghorn as part of ​Gathering: A Venison Magazine Retrospective through August 31st!
Picture
work in progress by Samantha // image via Instagram
"If my art practice were to have a band name I would call it Storm Rider. When I begin any piece, I am acutely aware of the space where the work will exist. This is where the build-up starts, I am instantly drawn to an area and/or the architecture of the space and work towards warping one’s initial perception of the space in order to alter his/her experience of interaction. I aim to create a heightened awareness of our bodies moving through space. " - Samantha Rausch, Summer 2015

Bio:

Samantha Rausch is a conceptual artist whose interdisciplinary practice fuses installation, sculpture, painting, performance and public art together. Her work deals with creating immersive & interactive environments in relation to cosmic narratives Rausch devises. She currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Rausch received her MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art and her BFA & BA in Art History from the University of South Florida. Rausch has participated in a number residencies including the Vermont Studio Center, group shows around the country, and has multiple works as part of permanent public art works collection.
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ZERO // Burch Wood, Metal, Plastic, Cold Press Archival Watercolor Paper, Ink, Acrylic Paint // 12" X 12" 4" // on view at Abrams Claghorn
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ZERO // Burch Wood, Metal, Plastic, Cold Press Archival Watercolor Paper, Ink, Acrylic Paint // 12" X 12" 4" // on view at Abrams Claghorn

See the work!

gathering: a venison magazine retrospective
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