Yumi Janairo Roth, Pallet::Paleta (Made in the Philippines), 2005

Beauty Underfoot
curated by Jeanne Gerrity

Adriana Farmiga
Petrova Giberson
Isola and Norzi
Fawad Khan
Gareth Long
Alison Owen
Mike Quinn
Yumi Janairo Roth
Jen Schwarting
Secret School and the K.I.D.S.
Charwei Tsai

Exhibition dates: June 20 - August 2
Artists' reception: Saturday, June 20, 5-8pm

Apropos of Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage once remarked, "Beauty is now underfoot wherever we take the trouble to look." His comment suggests not merely that the commonplace can be transformed into art, but that this art has the potential for beauty. The artists in this exhibition take the banalities of life and transform them into poetic statements. The source material for these striking works, ranging from the dust on the floor of the gallery to text from a local newspapers, are rendered virtually unrecognizable by the artists' aesthetic commitment.

The artists in Beauty Underfoot synthesize every moment of our daily experience, creating a sense of the sublime that paradoxically hovers between an extreme connection and a highly removed detachment from its derivation. Each work exists as a testament to their ability to mutate the quotidian into the lyrical. However, Beauty Underfoot goes even further, challenging the viewers to move beyond the aesthetic object, reviewing and confronting its source. When examined more closely, the works refer to mundaneness, hardship, and even injustice without any didacticism. The artists do not shy away from reality, but nor do they allow it to eclipse their creativity. The works in the exhibition ultimately transcend the ordinary, transforming it into the extraordinary.