Out of the Blue March 4, 2006

Out of the Blue opening reception + curators' talk:
Sat. March 4, 3-6pm

Images and comprehensive artist info at http://outoftheblueproject.org

via Artnet News (1/31/06):

"OUT OF THE BLUE" IN ABINGTON
Art globetrotters, put a new pin on your map! The Abington Art Center in Jenkintown, Pa., opens "Out of the Blue," Mar. 4-May 6, 2006, a group show about weather and the creative process conceived by artists Joy Episalla and Joy Garnett and organized by Abington Art Center curator Amy Lipton. The show features 22 artists from the U.S., Canada and England, and "focuses on the dynamics of human creativity as a metaphor for geological and atmospheric phenomena." The show includes works by Stephen Andrews, Robert Bordo, Emily Brown, Diane Burko, Dawn DeDeaux , Christos Dikeakos, John Dougill, Joy Episalla, Joy Garnett, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Erik Hanson, Geoffrey Hendricks , J.J. L'Heureux, Bill Jones, Zoe Leonard, Frank Moore, Eileen Neff, Andrea Polli , Hunter Reynolds, Austin Thomas, Bing Wright and Carrie Yamaoka, with a selection of ephemera and multiples by Colin Keefe, Richard Long , Ben Neill, Kiki Smith, Patti Smith, Robert Smithson and Andrea Zittel. For further details, see http://outoftheblueproject.org

more info:

"out of the blue" is one of the most significant shows to premier at Abington Art Center, presenting works from 22 prominent regional, national and international artists hailing from Philadelphia, NYC, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, London, Toronto and Vancouver. Curators' Joy Episalla, Joy Garnett & Amy Lipton's talk begins at 3pm followed by the reception until 6pm at ABINGTON ART CENTER, 515 Meetinghouse Road Jenkintown, PA 19046, (215) 887 4882

The exhibition focuses on the dynamics of human creativity as a metaphor for geological and atmospheric phenomena. Treating issues of weather both literally and symbolically, Out of the Blue approaches the creative process as a kind of weather system.

Ideas, like hurricanes, seem to come "out of the blue" though they arrive through a combination of complex forces. Through metaphors provided by art, out of the blue leads us through the tangle of influences?both innovative and destructive?that humans exert upon one another and the environment. Understanding and cultivating these influences and relationships is the key to our cultural vitality in a world where technological hubris and political arrogance overshadow tolerance and collaboration.

On display, in addition to artworks, is a selection of "ephemera" loaned by the curators and participating artists. Found objects, artist multiples, books, CDs and vernacular artifacts interspersed throughout the exhibition and displayed in nearby vitrines, reflect the artists' sources and provide a map of their thought processes.

Through this grouping of artists, artworks and objects, which are all connected to one another in some way, out of the blue generates its own weather conditions, a storm of intertwined processes?artistic, social, political, atmospheric, and geological. As we influence one another, we in turn affect our culture and the environment, and creativity itself becomes a force of nature.