June 24 - August 19, 2007
Public Reception: Sunday, June 24, 2007, 2 pm - 5 pm
Works by: Glenn Bach, Sierra Brown, Kendell Carter, Desiree DeVirgilio, McLean Fahnestock, C. Finley, Jeff Foye, Jocelyn Foye, Amber Gavin, Gretchen Jankowski, Jean Robison, Carol Shaw-Sutton, Susanna Speirs, Christen Sperry-Garcia, Matt Thomason, Jeffrey Wasinger
Curator: Carol Cheh
It is the Center's great pleasure to present I Just Can't Get Enough, an exhibition of new works by CSULB Faculty, MFA's and BFA's. This exhibition represents an opportunity for the Center to provide a venue not just to up and coming young artists, but to a young curator as well, Carol Cheh. Cal State Long Beach graduates and faculty have long been a substantial presence at the Center; several of the artists in this exhibition are either current or former Studio Artists, as well.
Six Soundtracks for Angeles Gate
The opening reception will be accompanied by a series of musical performances, Six Soundtracks for Angels Gate, each based upon a 20 minute film being created by artist Glenn Bach. Each performer or duo will improvise a soundtrack to this film, and, for the final slot, all of the performers will group together for one final, completely improvised soundtrack The performances will take place in Building H.
Schedule of Performances
2-2:20 Glenn Bach
2:30-2:50 Joe Negro
3-3:20 smgsap
3:30-3:50 Noah Thomas
4-4:20 Spastic Colon
4:30-4:50 all group ensemble
 Glenn Bach,
Blue Forest, 2001
Digital image
|
 Sierra Brown
Character, 2005 -
Digital print
|
 Gretchen Jankowski,
Untitled (Red), 2007
Mixed Media
|
Curator's Statement
Having the largest art department west of the Mississippi, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) employs dozens of art instructors and trains hundreds of art students, both graduate and undergraduate, every year. There are hardly any themes, categories, or intrinsic qualities that could unite them all. In presenting an exhibition of art produced at CSULB, the question then becomes, how does one curate such a show? As the person entrusted with this task, I chose to proceed subjectively and intuitively-by taking a tour of art made by past and present members of the CSULB community, and seeing what qualities or themes leapt out and took hold of me. Which of these qualities or themes could I then use to organize a compelling exhibition?
The first artists I was drawn to displayed a wonderful facility for working closely with materials-coaxing ordinary materials to yield extraordinary results, or using alternative materials in a traditional medium. These artists produced work that was sensuous and idiosyncratic, seemingly the product of a perfect marriage between vision and hand. Other artists worked freely and intuitively to explore both the inner and outer landscape of ideas, experiences, relationships, and social culture. Some questioned gender roles and cultural signifiers; others sought to pinpoint or express elusive elements in the world around them; still others touched on voyeurism, the quirkiness of objects, the poetry of the hidden, or the ethereal transactions between the human body and nature. To these already fertile layers, I added another: the interaction of opposites. What happens when two artists, working in the same medium but with wildly divergent sensibilities, come together to create something new? The two collaborative, site-specific installations commissioned for this exhibition will seek to answer this question.
This exhibition presents work in various media by a cross-section of artists associated with CSULB's art department. MFAs and BFAs-some still in school, some recently graduated-as well as current faculty members are represented here, providing a highly eclectic snapshot of the artistic activity now centered around this campus. The works that have been chosen are diverse, but they are all united by a sexy, curious, engaging, infectious quality. We just can't get enough, indeed.
Carol Cheh
MA Candidate, Art History, CSULB
CURATOR:
Carol Cheh
b. 1966 in Honolulu, Hawaii
MA candidate, Art History
Carol Cheh currently works in the curatorial department of the Orange County Museum of Art while pursuing a graduate degree in Art History and engaging in various curatorial and writing projects throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Glenn Bach
b. 1965 in Santa Barbara, California
1991 BFA Drawing and Painting (Intermedia)
2000 MA Studio Art
2004 MFA Drawing and Painting
In addition to visual works in photography and drawing, Glenn Bach also writes poetry and creates sound art using field recordings, digital audio, and analog electronics. His work is heavily inspired by the sights and sounds he encounters during his daily walks.
Sierra Brown
b. 1979 in Omaha, Nebraska
MFA candidate, Sculpture
Sierra Brown tweaks imagery, words, and sounds in a variety of media to question notions of gender and economic equity.
Kendell Carter
b. 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana
2006 MFA Sculpture and Public Art
By blending and re-shuffling the cultural identities of objects and materials, Kendell Carter seeks to create a dialogue around their use and signiÞcance in contemporary society. His installations bring together urban street culture, modernist architecture, and textile and furniture design.
Desiree DeVirgilio
b. 1977 in Phoenix, Arizona
MFA candidate, Photography
Desiree DeVirgilio's provocative video works operate at the intersection of complexity woven from the emotional, the mundane, the cynical, and the confrontational.
McLean Fahnestock
b. 1976 in Leonardtown, Maryland
MFA candidate, Sculpture
McLean Fahnestock's installations use recognizable objects that carry preconceived notions of physical properties, limitations, and function to illustrate relationships. These objects are charged by their direct correlation to humans in usefulness or affection.
C. Finley
b. 1975 in Sedalia, Missouri
2006 MFA Sculpture
Through lavish paintings, drawings, and installations, C. Finley attempts to seduce the viewer with decorative materials in a humorous manner. Her goal is to unfix the status quo by revealing femininity as a put-on, a performance, an unnatural act.
Jeff Foye
b. 1975 in Arcadia, California
2007 MFA Sculpture and Intermedia
Jeff Foye and Robbie Miller are interested in identity and the props we surround ourselves with or the actions we take that describe our roles. In some of their video pieces, they attempt to alter approachs to changing societal roles, or to just get a laugh.
Jocelyn Foye
b. 1977 in Manchester, Connecticut
2006 MFA Sculpture and Installation
Employing a complex practice that includes performance and multimedia documentation, Jocelyn Foye abstracts representations of the body to speak to the merger of personal and impersonal narrative. As a result, her work explores many of the unsocialized parts or awkward places that vulnerably reflect pain and pleasure.
Amber Gavin
b. 1984 in Bellflower, California
BFA candidate, Sculpture
Amber Gavin is interested in the inherent qualities of materials, often using whole pieces taken from nature, such as a gourd or tree branch, to create sexual or allegorical sculptures.
Gretchen Jankowski
b. 1978 in Fort Wayne, Indiana
MFA candidate, Printmaking
With much of her sensibility derived from vintage 1970s material culture, Gretchen Jankowski's work exudes an irresistibly ³groovy² aura. Unconventional materials are employed within the printmaking medium to create surprisingly sexy, seductive work.
Robbie Miller
b. 1973 in Chicago, Illinois
Robbie Miller and Jeff Foye are interested in identity and the props we surround ourselves with or the actions we take that describe our roles. In some of their video pieces, they attempt to alter approachs to changing societal roles, or to just get a laugh.
Jean Robison
b. 1974 in San Francisco, California
2006 MFA Intermedia
Jean Robison's goal is immediate, non-verbal communication, using imagery to access a primary level of communication. Her photographic and video work‹which explores the play of ordinary objects like baseballs, fruit, and pennies‹is often sexually charged, absurd and humorous.
Carol Shaw-Sutton
b. 1948 in Los Angeles, California
Chair, Fiber Program
Carol Shaw-Sutton's fiber work incorporates personal narrative objects and installations that use both ancient and high-tech textile techniques. She deals, in a visually poetic language, with deep human concern for harmony and release through our bodies into nature and the mysterious beyond.
Susanna Speirs
b. 1971 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Chair, Metals Program
Metals artist Susanna Speirs fabricates hollow forms and casts glass elements that possess transferred qualities found in the human form. She also uses the forms as vehicles to represent the passage of time and natural progression.
Christen Sperry-Garcia
b. 1978 in San Diego, California
MFA candidate, Sculpture
Christen Sperry-Garcia plays with vernacular materials and actions in a socially relational and physical context. In her current research, she inserts herself into and participates in the private and intimate routines of others.
(Christen will be doing a performance on the day of the opening only.)
Matt Thomason
b. 1965 in Los Angeles, California
1990 BFA Printmaking
MFA candidate, Printmaking
Matt Thomason has been an accomplished printmaker for over 20 years, constantly experimenting with various alternative processes to create new textures and new means of expressing his vision.
Jeffrey Wasinger
b. 1967 in Garden City, Kansas
BFA candidate, Drawing and Painting
Jeff Wasinger plays with the natural properties of common objects, such as paper towels, to create uniquely patterned and textured paintings that often resemble complex printing processes.
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