FENCE SELECT

2006 Fence Select July 14 – August 28, 2006 Juried by Nato Thompson from the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMoCA). Opening reception Friday, July 13, 5-8pm, Awards ceremony at 7pm Drink from the river of nowhere By Nato Thompson I sat drinking and did not notice the dusk, Till falling petals filled the folds of my dress. Drunken I rose and walked to the moonlit stream; The birds were gone, and men also few. - Li Po Abandonment is both a blind personal journey and a collective urban condition. In the ever poetic often distracting realm of the existential, the self must eventually face the horrific vacuum of time; a moment inconceivable, fascinating and cruel. Many an artist, poet, and moribund creature stare intently into the gothic wormhole of their destruction and find in it, as Kierkegaard said of death, a wonderful dancing partner. That dance often takes on a grace, magic and edgy moodiness that brings to life a faint shiver of welcome breath. The city, on the other hand, is oft-haunted by the threat of tumbleweeds, faulty braces and off-shore international finance. These terrifying signs that a small town once home to the laughter of barber shops, bars and factory work, will soon sink into its own shadow and crumble, disparagingly, back into the earth. The tempting fetid forest, the dirty ephemera, the faded photo, the beckoning crypt, the lost letter... Is it all that surprising to find such sentiment haunting the art work of those outside the booming megalopolis of cities? Are we not all entering the darkened wood, edging ever closer to the suffocating blindness of abandonment? In the heart of abandonment, we find shimmery light. We find magic. We sense the moon, the stars, the Wiccans and the waste-oids, all find solace in the heart of post-industrial purgatory. We find shamanistic antler horns cobbled together from post-industrial detritus. We find the key to evolution encrusted in ceramic. We find psychedelic wanderlust and iconographic Grimms Fairy tales. We find headless horses battling it out against the sky unable to tell day from night. IF YOU ATTENDED OR PARTICIPATED IN THIS SHOW, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTATION OF YOUR WORK OR THE EVENT TO THIS PAGE BY CLICKING HERE.

Arline Ziaya Acosta Garrett Allen Suzanne Arbanas David Austin Michele Bager Julian Bendaña R. Jane Bouchord Jim Brearton John Caputo Tallon Chalmer Tom Chesnut Lindsey Christie Ray Felix Jim Flosdorf Jon Gernon Jennifer Grainer Kathy Greenwood Sarah Gonek Spring Hofeldt Tina Lincer Luba Ricket Brad Ruthberg Deborah Segel Paul Stoler Carlos Vela Michael Weidrich John W. Yost "The Fence Show got its name 42 years ago when members’ artwork was exhibited on the iron fence surrounding Washington Park. Today the Exhibition represents a wonderful cross-section of artists and media. To be part of the Fence Show, artists must be Members of The Arts Center. Exhibiting artists, ranging from youthful novices to seasoned professionals, have their work viewed by thousands of visitors During a four-week long Salon period, all artwork entered by members is displayed and the invited jurors select works for the Fence Show. These Fence Select Works 2007, some of which are for sale, are then displayed for more than a month in the Arts Centers Main Gallery. Become a member today!" IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE ARTISTS LISTED ABOVE, AND YOU HAVE WORK ONLINE SOMEWHERE, SEND ME LINKS AND I WILL LINK IT TO YOUR NAME.