"Group study" Collective show, Refusalon gallery, San Francisco, USA

"California / Californication"
Watercolor on 300 gr. Arches paper
56 x 76 cm

Valéry Grancher 2014

refusalon
« Group Study »

February 20 ‑ April 20, 2014
Opening reception: Thursday,
February 20, 5 ‑ 7pm
500 Post st, San Francisco
At the J W Marriott building.




It is a mystery. Why does something catch our eye? Why do some things draw us in? Altogether, how does this attraction define us? Is it instinct or intellect?

Roland Barthes, in his piece Camera Lucida, refers to the notion of punctum. Contextualizing this concept through the use of photography, the punctum (different from the studium that embodies the whole, the theme, or the general idea) is present in an art piece as a detail that creates an instantaneous connection with the viewer. Indeed, this idea is a symbol of pure attraction driven by a small detail that remains completely subjective.

“Group Study” presents works by Sandro Chia, Rick Oginz, Valéry Grancher, Maya Smira, Elisabeth Ajtay, Jamie Mayne, David Karvasales, Dame Darcy,Ray Fernandez, Tamir Karta, and Marcy Freedman. It elucidates the concept of inexplicable attraction between artists and viewers as mediated by the art object.

Fundamentally, the show simplifies ideas of what our mind registers first and most deeply. It explores the mechanism of desire. The ultimate goal is to authenticate the very root forces that accumulate and coalesce to create our personal vision.

In a surgical way, “Group Study” explores the purpose and trigger of taste. Punctum.

Clea Massiani
Shmulik Krampf
refusalon