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February
18- April 7, 2006 |
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At left:
Type A
Contender, 2004
Photograph on polycarbonate mirror
72 x 36 inches
Courtesy Sara Meltzer Gallery, NYC |
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In February 2006, Santa
Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum will present a mid-career exhibition, of the
collaborative team known as Type
A, including rarely
screened films, photographs, drawings, needlepoint works,
and a large-scale sculpture, in which they ask will boys
be boys?
In videos, photographs, drawings
and installations, Type A, Adam
Ames and Andrew Bordwin,
parody masculine initiation rituals and taboos—spitting off balconies,
drinking, wrestling, climbing fences—to explore
the ways that men compete, challenge and play and the
resulting psychological imbalance. Through visual
explorations of masculine identity, Type A has continued
to investigate the sometimes-brutal demand put upon men
to be aggressive and in control. If one has a “type
A” personality—characterized by extreme competitiveness
and ambition, an obsession with accomplishing tasks quickly,
little time for self-reflection, and a fervent need to
be in command of situations—then these characteristics
are not only expected, but also necessary to the definition
of one’s manhood. . Their work also exhibits
a conscious contradiction of the male code’s injunction
to survive and succeed independently by instead embracing,
indeed celebrating, the collaborative porcess. Bordwin
and Ames, who both began (and continue) individual artistic
practices, see the collaborative model as an integral
part of their philosophical project in which teamwork
and sharing become driving forces.
Type A has had solo exhibitions at Second Street Gallery
(Charlottesville) and California State University Luckman
Gallery (Los Angeles). Their work has also been included
in exhibitions at the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis),
Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans), Parrish Art Museum
(Southampton), and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
(Ithaca) among others. Their work is housed in the collections
of the Addison Museum of American Art, The Israel Museum,
and The Johnson Museum of Art. |
see
press release
Imminent Domain
David Florimbi |
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This
February, artist David Florimbi will be selling the
dream of a Santa Barbara Estate, donning a realtor’s suit and smile while
passing out business cards in front of CAF’s glassbox
containing his Realty ad painings. Coinciding with
the launch of CAF’s third Million Dollar Home Raffle,
Florimbi’s exhibition, Imminent Domain,
references 19th century landscape painting and property
listings to consider the contemporary fascination with
real estate speculation, acquisition and land use.
Part of CAF’s Bloom Projects
series, Imminent
Domain will contain five paintings, each of which
has been scanned, printed, painted on again, and then
accented with slogan stickers. In CAF’s
Bloom Gallery, a series of three landscapes, Available, Upgraded and
an as-yet untitled newly commissioned piece, depict
ranch lands occupied by a lone steer that progressively
fades into the backdrop. Reminiscent of 19th
century landscape paintings that depicted an unpopulated,
uncivilized, and virgin Frontier to promote Manifest
Destiny, Florimbi’s works draw a correlation
between myths of entitled expansion and the 21st century
American Dream.
Residing in Santa Barbara, where
property value inflation, population growth and resource
management hold a prominent place in the collective
consciousness, Florimbi’s
paintings shown in the CAF glassbox, Hidden Treasure and Call
Pascal, manipulate the visual language of a realty
listings. According to Florimbi, I have always
been fascinated by real estate ads. They appear to offer
little windows into the many different faces of the American
dream” What often captures my attention are
the little ironies between the language of the ad and
the ad’s accompanying image. For instance, an image
of a vast expanse of ocean and a banner that reads, ‘Available’ makes
me wonder what exactly is available.” |
see press
release
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