First published in the Oct. 8 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
The Brand Associates have unveiled its annual juried paper art exhibition at the Brand Library, its 50th such showcase of artwork whose similarities largely end at the base medium.
The showcase, formally called Brand 50, brings 89 diverse pieces of artwork to the Brand Library’s art gallery, as selected by this year’s juror, Shannon Currie Holmes. The exhibit, which is freely available to view, runs through Dec. 30. Many of the pieces exhibited in the show, which serves as the primary fundraiser for Brand Associates, are also for sale. A printed catalogue for the show is also on sale.
Currie Holmes, who is the exhibitions supervisor at the Brand Library, said though she is accustomed to the annual “Tetris puzzle” of hanging each year’s show, being the juror this year was a new experience for her. In fact, it may have made the process of figuring out where to place everything even more challenging, as she was only able to view photographs of the artwork on a computer at first.
“Curation is an additive process. Curation is like a slow, progressive process that you collect work and build on an idea,” she explained in a recent interview. “Juried exhibition is definitely subtractive, because you’re given so many works and given a limited amount of time to select them and you have to go from 1,200 or 1,300 down to 80. It has to be a bit of a slash and burn, and you want to give each artist some time with each piece, so it’s a long process.
“I think another juror would have selected 85 other works and it would be just as gratifying of a show,” Currie Holmes added. “I think that everyone who submitted had merit.”
This portrait by artist Mika Denny is among 89 works selected for the Brand 50 show.
What helps make for a diverse exhibit is that outside of the media requirements, there is no theme for the show. This means that any particular room will bring a kaleidoscope of introspective portraits, sculpted landscapes, expressionist scenes or borderline interactive — but not — installations.
“It was a very challenging show to hang, but it makes for a very interesting show,” Currie Holmes said.
Lack of theme aside, Currie Holmes said with each show, there does seem to emerge some level of consistency among the work. One of the requirements of submitting is that the artwork will have been made recently, so very often multiple artists will latch onto something consistent, even if incidentally. With this show, she said that it’s clear a lot of the artists used their period of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic to look inward. Many of the pieces also reflect the more recent political and social climate of examining racist and prejudiced undertones in society.
“There seems to be something that comes out in every year I’ve noticed, whether it’s a color wave, a palette that seems to be popular, or stylistically, if there’s a lot of unrest in the world, there tends to be more politically driven pieces,” she said. “In this show, it’s a lot of self-reflection, I think from the COVID time.”
In selecting pieces, Currie Holmes said she seeks a certain level of technical proficiency combined with clear intent within the work. As with previous shows, the sheer quality of the work has impressed her, and is likely a result of the Brand Associates’ consistent legacy of having this show, she said.
As for paper as the medium, Currie Holmes said she’s not quite certain why the Brand Associates ultimately landed on that as a consistency, but she nevertheless admires and appreciates it. On one hand, working with paper is a return to the basics, something we’ve done as early as kindergarten. On the other hand, it gives a real challenge to artists.
“It’s not forgiving. It’s a dangerous medium. You mark paper, it’s marked. You can’t scrape it clean. It’s a one-and-done kind of thing,” Currie Holmes said. “I think artists that work with paper, especially large pieces of paper, I think they’re daring. They just go for it, and it’s exciting.
“It has fragility to it as well,” she added. “You have to be careful with paper. And it’s versatile. Look at what we’ve got from one work to the next. They’re all wildly different.”
For additional information, visit associatesofbrand.org.
