“Unframed,” curated by Aimee Mandala, at ShockBoxx
Photos by Bondo Wyszpolski
The show came and went, but impressed those who saw it.
Curator Aimee Mandala envisioned, in her words, “an exhibition focused on the artist’s process — on works that are sketched out, used up, slipped in a folder, forgotten and left behind. It is a look inside the artist’s mind and reveals how we work out a composition or idea, or simply practice our craft. I have always gravitated to works on paper and I think it’s because there is an innate intimacy to it. The idea of the works being unframed felt slightly rebellious, which is in keeping with the ShockBoxx vibe… That tangibility, texture and truth of seeing the work in its raw form is so appealing to me. The artwork is installed much like you might see it in an artist’s studio, hung by binder clips in a salon style — a storyboard of sorts.”
The work was on view last weekend, and came down on Wednesday.
Mandala selected 20 artists, and requested works depicting “the intimate moments we sit alone at an easel or desk or drafting table and allow whatever is in us to pour out.” The show had an informal, casual feel to it, but was also vibrant in a way that art “in process” often has over its more “polished” counterparts. These few images of artists who were present convey a small sense of an all-too-brief but joyous occasion. ER
