1/14/20
NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — What drives artists to make their work and sustain a creative
practice? “A Practice in Process,” the new show opening at MCLA Gallery 51 on Jan.
22, aims to explore this question through the work of eight artists who participated
in MASS MoCA’s artist-in-residence program at the Studios at MASS MoCA, an initiative
of the museum’s Assets for Artists program, which delivers finance and business training
to working artists, between December 2019 and January 2020. An opening reception will
be held at the gallery from 5-7 p.m. on Jan. 22.
The exhibition ranges from video representations of installation projects completed in Europe and further explored while in residence, in North Adams, by the Franco-Swiss duo Barbezat-Villetard, to new three-dimensional work by Chicago-based artist Jonathan Korotko that explores and incorporates fiber-based materials alluding to exotic animal commodities.
“A Practice in Process,” with work by Megan Reed, Tara Sabharwal, Celeste Wilson, Phil Rabovsky, M Slater, Barbezat-Villetard, Jonathan Korotko and Charlene Tan, will be on view from January 22, 2020 to March 14, 2020 at MCLA Gallery 51. This exhibition was co-curated by MCLA Berkshire Cultural Resource Center Director Erica Wall and Charlene Tan.
To continue to make and advance their work, many artists search for and attend artist residencies at least once, often many times, throughout their careers. Studios at MASS MoCA residencies create time and space for artists to change and push their practice.
Typically, less attention is paid to the journey artists take to create a work than on the finished product. “A Practice in Process” attempts to create some transparency for viewers to better understand the artist’s practice and the residency process.
“There is no way to fully represent the broad and seemingly infinite spectrum that truly constitutes the ‘artist process’ but, while in residence, we get a glimpse of the marathon an artist commits to and engages,” Wall wrote in the show’s curatorial statement. “An artist-in-residence gets the opportunity, be it temporary, to test and bring to fruition ideas and projects that serve to feed, inspire and motivate them to continue a pursuit to produce work and engage in the process that is ‘the practice’.
MCLA Gallery 51 is a program of MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center. Go to: www.mcla.edu for gallery hours & more information or call 413-662-5324.
MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center (BCRC) provides opportunities, resources, and support to the Northern Berkshire Community. BCRC brings together the Northern Berkshire , MCLA and greater Creative Communities through its cultural programming including: MCLA Gallery 51, Downstreet Art, B-Hip, and MCLA Presents! We will promote, facilitate, and encourage a dialogue in order to foster a sustainable creative community. BCRC is a collaborative project of MCLA, MASS MoCA, and the City of North Adams.
