State of the Union - Jun 20 - Jul 29, 2007
Reception - Friday, Jun 22, 6-9p.m.
Gallery Project presents State of the Union, in which Gallery Project Collaborators and guest artists are invited to comment through their work on conditions in the country.
"The artist, since the beginning of time, has always expressed the aspirations and dreams of his people. Silence the artist and you have silenced the most articulate voice the people have." (Katharine Hepburn, speaking in support of Henry Wallace who was called by the House Committee on Un-American Activities, May, 1947.) Is it the responsibility of an artist to take positions and make statements regarding social, political and cultural situations? Or does the artist, by definition, escape the machinations of the contextual milieu, to live sequestered amidst the clarity and purity of aesthetic principal? Do cultural movements, trends or situations exist whose import is so significant that they, by their definition, require an artist to express a position or response, whether or not that artist usually enters the socio-political arena? And finally, does a gallery have the responsibility to provide a forum in which opinion and content regarding social and political situations may be addressed, or should a gallery remain neutrally closed to current content and context, merely examining issues of art, its aesthetics, materials, and techniques? With State of the Union, Gallery Project attempts to respond to these questions by inviting artists to speak their minds.
215 South 4th Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Tues - Sat 12-9p.m.; Sun 12- 4p.m.
734.997.7012
www.thegalleryproject.com
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