The Loop Show December 3, 2011

Beacon Arts presents The Loop Show, Artist China Adams first curatorial project, that brings together a group of artists whose work collectively presents a vision of the art object as something rich and vibrant born of cast off materials, the things we are leaving behind.

The Loop Show is an exhibition that focuses on artists who have an established, working relationship with reused materials. The exhibition is framed by contemplation on the problems of excess and material waste:

In our culture, where unfixable appliances, outdated 3 year-old computers, and throw-aways of all types are the norm, it is hard to deny that we have become disconnected with the idea that material of all kinds, whether plastic, rubber, cotton, aluminum, or gold is fundamentally valuable. Woven into this loss of respect for material, is an even more systemic loss of respect for the basic tradition of human, physical labor.

Artists however, typically have an intimate relationship with materials, one that perhaps more than others, honors the preciousness of material. Given this, it seems likely that a movement towards reversing our faulty relationship vis-a-vie people and their materials might start among artists.

In fact, there is a wave of such artists concerning themselves with this very issue of reusing materials to create their art. A great, emerging group of artists have begun seriously addressing the issue of waste, reuse, and the inherent impossibility of continued expansion and growth (of brand new, raw material), both on a global level and in the studio. The Loop Show highlights artists working in this way; artists who are exploring and addressing our “material problem.”