Interview with New York based artist Jeffrey Gibson, currently in Hotbox Forever.
SWFA: In what way does the art world simplify personal identity, and in what ways does your work complicate it?
JG: Personal
identity and definitions in general always simplify what they are
attempting to describe. Each descriptive term describes only one facet
of a person and conjures larger notions of who they may be at the same
time. If we had to describe every facet of someone - it would be
impossible because of how multi-layered and complicated people are. The
art world operates similarly due to necessity. What might make a great
image, painting or sculpture, may not make the best fully realized
representation of it's subject and it's complexities.
The
goal of my work is not to complicate identity as a subject but to
expand the possibilities of how identity is represented in objects and
through specific materials.
SWFA: Your
work comes to life through its association with charged materials like
antique mirrors and animal hydes. Do you ever wonder if good abstract
painting can only be incanted into existence with the help of outside
source material with special powers and associations?
JG: There
is plenty of great abstract painting that does not reference source
material outside of formal concerns. For me, shape, color and scale can
really stir an emotional or intellectual response. I often think that
there is no way to create work that does not somehow reference a charged
history or content, but some artists may not acknowledge that. I have
chosen charged materials to incite alternative histories and aesthetics,
but also to challenge a viewer's expectations of abstract painting.
SWFA: The
title phrase "Infinite Sampling," which refers to a body of your works
on paper, suggests an enthusiasm for the future of painting. Have you
ever felt the opposite?
JG: Totally.
There was a period not so many years ago when I was completely bored
with painting and many painters. Some painters are defensive about
traditional painting formats and continue to believe that "painting will
always be around", that might be true but I began questioning it's
relevance in the context of new mediums and especially in these
digitized times. I'm really excited about the future, and nervous, and
often freaked out, but I want painting to be a very present part of it.
SWFA: Someone once said boxing is show business with blood. How did you come to incorporate the heavy bag in your work?
JG: When
I worked at The Field Museum, I came across Iroquois beaded whimsies.
There were made by Native American bead workers living in the Niagara
Falls region at the turn of the century. They attempted to appeal to
Victorian tastes by creating beadwork that mimicked European fabrics
with paisley and floral prints using raised beadwork. What was created
was deemed novelty tourist items that were not highly valued beyond
sentimental value. I saw a new hybrid aesthetic that combined two
disparate aesthetics, a third one, that did not yet have a context to
make sense to the masses.
I
have often referenced whimsies in my work but when I worked with a
trainer a few years back, she had me work with a punching bag and I
loved the fetishistic quality to all of the equipment, and the
psychology involved in releasing your aggression on a canvas bag stuffed
with rags and sand. There is a bodily quality to the bags. I hope that
my adorning of the bags with direct references to more traditional
aesthetics, disarms the aggression and becomes an object of beauty meant
to be looked, not punched.
SWFA: When
you worked at the Field Museum, aiding in the repatriation of tribal
works, you said you witnessed native americans so touched they cried, or
so angered they argued, by the presence of tribal works. Can an artist
ever expect that level of emotional response to their work in a gallery?
JG: Yes.
Interview with New York based artist Wendy White
SWFA: You
live in lower Manhattan, and the built space heavily informs your work. Is it
hard to find inspiring streets and buildings in a city that is becoming so
gentrified?
WW: Not at all. my neighborhood is a mess.
SWFA: Some
artists fence off the outer world and create a pure realm in which to conduct
their painting experiments. You seem to be doing the opposite, and letting the
world in. Could you see yourself going in the other direction?
WW: Probably not.
SWFA: Although
your paintings derive from architecture, they have a graphic speed that reminds
one of sports. Which sports are your favorites and why?
WW: A lot of my work is about the psychology of team sports. I also reference
sports gear graphics. Baseball is my favorite sport because I fully
understand it. I'm also a fan of soccer, which has the best gear by
far.
SWFA: Your
name seems tailor-made for abstract painting. You're Wendy of the lost boys,
and the lost boys are all white. Be honest—is Wendy White your real name?
WW: I don't really consider myself an abstract painter as I use a lot of photography and text. but yes, Wendy White is my real name.
SWFA: You
have excellent taste in hoodies and high tops. Is there a tomboy more stylish
than you in the art world?
WW: There's
an art world stigma that if you actually embrace fashion that you're
not smart, focused or serious. I'm positive that it's the other way
around.
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