+/- 22
POSITIVE/NEGATIVE 22
ANNUAL JURIED ART EXHIBITION
February 12 to March 2, 20007
Slocumb Galleries, ETSU
Awarding Reception & Juror's Lecture: February 23
JUROR: TOBY KAMPS
Curator, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
Created with flickr slideshow.
JUROR'S STATEMENT
It was a great pleasure choosing the work for Positive/Negative Twenty-Two. A large box of beautifully organized slide carousels and CD’s from Slocumb Galleries Director Karlota Contreras-Koterbay arrived right before Christmas. Opening it and diving into the work of the nearly XXX artists vying for inclusion in the exhibition was a fantastic treat. The range of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, and digital, ceramic and metal works was dazzling. Clearly, seasoned professionals, hungry students as well as inspired amateurs were putting forth their best efforts. There were surprisingly few clinkers; the vast majority of works vibrated in good ways. In fact, I made several calls to Karlota asking what was the maximum number of works she could shoehorn into the show. In the end, though, I had to be tough and choose what I felt were the best works.
My criteria for selecting work was a rough formula that I find works when looking at images without any contextual information other than the artist’s name, the medium, and dimensions. I sought out what I perceived as inspiration—in concept, in execution, in subject. I tried to look especially carefully at all works, especially those on paper because I know that this medium sometimes suffers in reproduction. I made my choices with very little thought as to how the show would cohere. Pulling this disparate group together into an exhibition is the Director’s job. But I know it will be Christmas all over again for me when I get my first in-person look at the amazing work in Positive/Negative Twenty-Two. I’m grateful to all the artists who applied and to East Tennessee State University for supporting this important project.
Toby Kamps
Curator
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston