Installing An Art Exhibition Is A Creative Act - Follow Behind The Scenes Process At San Diego Mesa College Beginning Soon!

 When we walk into an art exhibition, we experience the 'here and now' as it looks at the moment. We enter unaware of the work and complexities of preparation. My solo exhibition "Macro Views, Micro Wonders" opens on September 10th but conversations with Gallery Director Allesandra Moctezuma and Assistant Pat Vine began over a year ago.  The photos below gives viewers a sense of the space with nothing in it and before it was freshly painted but it will serve in stark contrast of what is to come next week when together with help from folks at the college, I will be installing over 20 works that include two room installations and one wall installation, several mixed media drawings, several transparent layered industrial mesh wall tableaus, and floor work. Portions will be suspended from the ceiling, some covering walls and parts sprawling on floors. For myself as an artist, I am a combination of humbled, excited, and nervous at the prospect of this challenge before me. Before I ever step into the gallery with my work, decisions have been made about the show title, printing accompanying images prepared for the banner, postcards, press releases and social media plans. It has been my experience that installing exhibitions is a true collaboration between the artist and curator/exhibition director as well as with countless others who make important contributions to the process. It is only with the true dedication of the staff, that I am able to create and install. The gallery space dictates ideas about what works to include and where they should be placed - viewers can think about their own living spaces and relate to the challenges of creating a home - and how each piece of furniture and object is thoughtfully positioned. With many experiences behind me, I recognize the installation process as a creative act with a voice all its own, adding to that of creating the art itself.
Next week I will be posting more photos of the process and then completion of the installation.