Observing, understanding, and engaging the context in which they work is a critical part of an artist’s growth. Given the current situation, where galleries around they world are changing formats, now is a good time to rethink how we view exhibitions. More than ever, we most hone our skill for viewing art in documentation and/or digital formats, after all, most of the art we will see in our lifetime will probably be in documentation form.
Above: Kyle Orlando’s work at Shrine Gallery
Pick one of the follow two outlets and write a one-page review following the prompts below:
Chose documentation from any exhibition on Contemporary Art Daily (https://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/。). Posting currently on-view show show every day, Contemporary Art Daily has thousands of exhibitions from all over the world in high resolution. Try searching for a particular artist you like and see if they are on there.
Or look at the following groups shows from Shrine Gallery (https://www.shrine.nyc/group-show) in New York. During the Pandemic, Shrine disseminated images of their gallery empty and invited any artist to superimpose their work onto the space to create digital exhibitions.
First ask yourself the questions key to any critical writing about art:
What is it? Or what does it look like?
What might it mean?
What does it contribute to the world at large?
Then ask yourself questions related to the current moment:
How does viewing the art via documentation help you understand the show or not?
How does the format speak to our current context?
What was your experience like as a viewer at home?
An artist’s development depends on their ability to observe, comprehend, and engage with the context in which they create. Given the current context, in which galleries all over the world are experimenting with new formats, it’s a good time to reconsider how we think about exhibitions. We need to improve our ability to view art in documentation and/or digital formats now more than ever; after all, the majority of the art we will see in our lifetime will most likely be in documentation form.
Kyle Orlando’s work at Shrine Gallery (above).
Choose one of the two venues listed below and write a one-page review using the prompts below:
On Contemporary Art Daily (https://www.contemporaryartdaily.com/), choose documentation from any exhibition. Contemporary Art Daily posts thousands of currently on-view exhibitions from across the world every day.
