February 2, 2004
Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383; mleventhal@colum.edu
Exhibition at Columbia College Takes a Wry Look at the Artist as Cultural Icon
WHAT: Artists in Production: Installation, film, video and photographs by Fiona Macdonald
Curated by Debra Riley Parr, Artists in Production takes a wry look at the formation of contemporary artists by forces beyond the typical concerns of art school. Not simply a matter of creativity, of acquiring technical skills and a knowledge of art history and theory, the process of becoming an artist today intersects with popular culture, the media and economic markets, and something vaguely referred to as the art scene. The production of artists often remains an unseen process, hidden, in part, by powerful mythologies of the artist as genius, as outsider, as untainted by commerce. In a highly mediated culture, becoming an artist is often more a matter of the desirability of the artist, than of the artist's own desire to be an artist.
This exhibition features Macdonald's moody, yet often hilarious, film entitled Museum Emotions. In a series of 10 ten-minute episodes, the film follows a self-absorbed world of artists, dealers, dancers, critics and media. Individuals couple and uncouple, careers are made and undone, generational rifts contract and expand, deals come together and fall apart. It's a soap opera of art and commerce, of love and loss, of brilliance and stupidity.
Along with other videos, Macdonald's recent images of young artists posing with their work will also be on view. In this work, Macdonald suggests a connection between the fashioning of contemporary artists and the imagery of fashion found in art magazines like Artforum and Index.
Fiona Macdonald, an artist, filmmaker, and writer from Melbourne, Australia, works across media technologies. Her installations, photographs, videos, and films have always engaged the master narratives of art, the museum, and the cultural conditions informing these narratives.
WHEN: March 5 - April 24
[Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5pm]
Opening reception: Friday, March 5, 5-7pm
WHERE: Columbia College Chicago's A+D 11th Street Gallery, 72 East 11th Street
HOW
MUCH: Free and open to the public
MORE
INFO: 312.344.6156
This exhibition is sponsored by the Art + Design Department of Columbia College Chicago.