Galleri Pictura / Skånska Konstmuseum, Lund
29 May – June 19, 2010
Opening Friday May 28, 6-8pm
The first exhibition is dedicated to the initial step in the creation of an artwork, an inquiry into the artistic process and the notion of an idea. The artists are invited to pursue any idea they may find interesting and dwell on what comes before the object.
The notion of the idea should be understood in the widest sense possible and can take any shape or size. The idea might exist before the work as a conceptual framework or be hidden in the material for the artist to uncover. It can be based on an observation, be the outcome of research and testing or be defined by context or site. An idea can make a prediction about the future by revealing the artist’s intentions with a work. It can indicate the direction the artist wishes the work to take and maybe uncover the conceptual or concrete circumstances that are at the foundation of an art work.
The artists are asked to present something that encompasses their artistic practice and the idea they are working on. They are free to consider producing a new idea, work with an old idea, which has not yet been realized or readdress and recontextualize an idea that has led to a previous work. The idea can be presented in any way the artists find suitable e.g. as a sketch, drawing, text, model, research material in any kind of media, materials etc.
Moreover, the exhibition invites the artists to contemplate on the nature of the idea, e.g. can an idea ever be considered finished – in particular when it serves as an outline for a work of art yet to be produced? Is there a defining moment in the artistic process where the scope of the work becomes clear and if so, when does this moment occur? Or is the idea imbedded in the work and gradually surfacing as the artist shapes and edits the material? And in any case, how can an idea be presented in a way in which it conveys a possibly transient thought to the public?
The exhibition will provide an entry into a very personal part of the artistic practice by asking the artists to share with a public their initial stage of creation. By exposing uncertainties and failures the artists are invited to take a risk. Unlike most exhibitions, the works on display will be unfinished and incomplete, so as to maintain an open-endedness that leaves room for negotiation and discussion about the direction of the work and its possible ramifications.
