THE IDEA OF THE THING THAT IT ISN’T
curated by Rachel Uffner – Michele Abeles, Martin Soto Climent, Jess Fuller, Tom Holmes, Anya Kielar, Pam Lins, Sam Moyer, Marlo Pascual,
Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Roger White, Amy Yao
Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Roger White, Amy Yao
Halsey Mckay Gallery is pleased to host Rachel Uffner as guest curator for the gallery’s first group exhibition. The Idea of the Thing That It Isn’t includes artwork that contrasts our sense of the traditional properties of the art object, and in doing so allows us to examine our ideas about a particular form or genre, thus bringing us closer to the forms they are contrasting. In other words, the idea of the thing that it isn’t comes into sharper relief.
A similarity can be drawn to how a character foil works in literature – the antagonist defines the protagonist precisely by showing what he is not: The immoral character makes the protagonist seem glaringly virtuous or the other way around, no matter, as long as the device serves to highlight the character of the other. Some artworks, however, can behave more like parallel characters, one that is very similar or almost the same as the protagonist but with slight variation. When the parallel diverges it can cause a shift in how we view the protagonist and alter how we view the traits that he embodies. Sometimes a slight shift in how we view something can be just as eye opening as a complete alteration.
Whether it’s a sharp contrast or a slight shift, the work in this show stresses the necessity of contrast in general and in particular, the idea of certain works as catalysts for a different way of looking or a clearer way of examining the standard.