Watkins College of Art at Belmont University Presents
The Show You Are About To See!
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Group Show with Reception + Gallery Talk: September 28 from 4:30 – 6:00 PM
Gallery 121 located in the Leu Center for the Visual Arts
My Artist Statement
Richard Prince. Gary Larson. Mad magazine. Louise Nevelson. I believed for a long time that you had to choose. You don’t. And that is a relief -- because I love them all.
High and low art have their place. Humor is mostly associated with low art. Humor, arguably, is
also the kindest way to unhook the mind from wrong-headed ideas. (Kafka’s axe does it too,
but it isn’t often funny.)
I think we need quick laughs. Laughs that bellow forth, before we know what -- or why --we’re
laughing. Humor is an art form that goes right to the soul, or maybe sometimes, only to the gut.
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Show You Are About To See features a diverse set of works exploring the relationship between humor and art, through sculpture, video, painting, and photographic media. Viewers are challenged to consider the possibility of humor being both silly and intelligent, while demonstrating how being funny can serve as a framework for artistic practice and messaging. How can humor shape our emotions and perceptions? How do artists utilize it to encourage critical thinking and a deeper understanding of the world?
Exhibiting artists include Jonas Criscoe, Jessika Edgar, Matthew Flores, Holli Friley, J. Todd Greene, Veronica Leto, Rob Millard-Mendez, Robin Miller, Melissa Newman, and Neil Daigle Orians.
This exhibition is co-curated by Belmont University Assistant Professor of Sculpture Thomas Sturgill and Lipscomb University Director of the School of Art and Design Rocky Horton. It is presented in collaboration with Belmont’s Annual Humanities Symposium. This year’s topic focuses on “Humor and Humanity”.
J. TODD GREENE