Hollywood, Los Angeles
Group Exhibition
Calisthenics
Thomas Duncan GallerySteven Baldi, Julie Beaufils, Camille Blatrix, Pol Chambost, Kate Costello, Matthew Darbyshire, Nancy De Holl, Lily Ludlow, Bruce M. Sherman, Linda Stark, Camilla Wills, B. Wurtz Curated by Matt Paweski In our studio lives we design a regimen of exercises, rules, and makeshift processes. Each of them we justify, though some become more refined than others. Many of these exercises exist purely in our heads, they are unspoken and used to break down influence and inspiration. Others are physical, they are repetitive and learned or possibly spontaneous, a set of tasks to advance the day. These "Calisthenics,” in a specific order and under the right conditions, produce the objects that we put into the world. Though some of the unique bends, turns, forms, or technique may be a bit out of square and wonky, these invented muscles have become incredibly strong and ingrained in their motions - a healthy studio fitness has developed through their activity. This exhibition presents a group of varied works by a wide range of artists. In the end, the works presented maintain lives of their own and are not confined to the formal or conceptual traces of the studio exercise, though their rogue training is apparent in their conception and execution. In most cases the works presented contain fuzzy notions of figuration, for others it is more obvious. It's there in a familiar scale - with details at eye level, a stocky volume that needs two hands, or a form adjusted by the fingertips. In other works it comes across more literally in the images portrayed - through repetition, blurring, or the magnifying of bodily or physical details. The intimacy of studio exercises can't help but portray notions of the figure as it is built into the personal measures used, the grips of tools, and the scale of materials. These qualities become refined, personal sensibilities through routine, which embeds a sensitivity into the work – not only materially and formally but also within the larger philosophical systems used to create them. MP - June 2015