JJ Murphy, a film author and art critic recently wrote: “There are two different approaches to curating a group show. One is to choose a theme and then find artwork that fits. The other strategy is to choose works and then attempt to discover a theme that will link the assembled pieces.”
The latter is the approach I took in curating this group show. The artists were chosen more for their unique, distinctive ways of art-making rather than for sharing a common theme. But there remains great commonality among their work.
In the realm of Zen Buddhism, there is a koan (a type of non-conceptual riddle found in the Book of Serenity written in 1223) that speaks of being “alive and frisky.” It encourages us to embrace life with a sense of liveliness, energy, and a zest for experiencing the world as we encounter it. To be “alive and frisky” is to cultivate a deep awareness of the present moment and engage wholeheartedly with whatever we do. These four artists exemplify this in their process - whether through mark-making, repetition, found objects, or language.
