Upcoming Art Show at Smackmellon: THERE IS NO SYNONYM FOR HOPE. (Obama inspired?)

THERE IS NO SYNONYM FOR HOPE
Co-curated by Lauren Schell Dickens and Julie McKim

Sonya Blesofsky, José Luis Cortés S., Cristina Fontsare, Joshua Eggleton, Samuel Ekwurtzel, Rachel Hines, Takashi Horisaki, Karrie Hovey, Jeff Kao, Petra Kralickova, Noah Nakell, Beth Krebs, Andrew Scott Ross, MiYoung Sohn, K Staelin

Exhibition dates: June 14- July 27, 2008
Artists' reception: Saturday, June 14, 5-8pm
(Members' Tour with Curators begins @6pm)

Smack Mellon is pleased to present There is No Synonym for Hope. Each summer Smack Mellon selects guest curators to organize a show of emerging artists in our gallery space. This season curators Lauren Schell Dickens and Julie McKim have put together a thematic show featuring the work of fifteen international artists.

We live in uncertain times of deep cynicism and audacious hope. Assumed structures, both political and social, once deemed infallible have once again revealed their cracks. Our global world has reshuffled historic relationships, shifting economic and cultural paradigms, while fires, floods and war ravage the landscape. As these once promising structures break around us, we are forced to reconsider our place in the world as both physical and psychological beings. There is no synonym for hope showcases work by 15 emerging international artists who use sculpture, photography, video, drawing, performance, and site-specific installation to examine the contemporary landscape of uncertainty, and explore the consequences of these eroding structures.
Failing structures breed anxiety, fostering a climate of disillusionment and vulnerability, while also opening a void of possibility. As established systems break apart, we are left with the boundlessness of a model yet to be defined, a new beginning to rebuild and try again. Yet the visions presented in this exhibition are far from utopian. Working under a looming recession and a saturated art market, the artists in this show reflect survivalist and escapist tendencies; they are insolent and resilient, inspired not by a blind optimism, but by an obstinate hope that continuously drives their art production. There is no synonym for hope seeks to capture the emotional, political and psychological responses elicited by the interrelationship of hope and failure.

Click here to read the full press release.

SMACKMELLON GALLERY

92 Plymouth Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201