Tipping the sacred cow
By Reyan Ali
The gallery exhibition that Grandview’s Junctionview Studios will play host to this Saturday, July 26, stands significant as being one of the first steps Columbus’ anti-aesthetes are taking to get their work more widely seen. Local collective Cowtown Lowbrow will be presenting “Cowtipping,” featuring well-priced original work for sale that will both raise funds for larger exhibitions across the state, and offer original wares by the artists to add to the multitude of enthusiasts within city limits. Unofficially, it’s also looking to turn out to be a hell of a visually stimulating evening.
Lowbrow art, as it’s so self-deprecatingly known, is an unofficial catch-all for the visual material that seems to be the theoretical antithesis to works that you found in a museum that represent “high culture.” Instead of artistic inspiration arising from classical or comparatively timeless sources, lowbrow consumes elements of contemporary subcultures like rock’n’roll, graffiti, and tattoos to recast common visual references into fresh and often surreal lights, frequently making cutting observations about both the nature of the original material and the broader culture. The local group adds the distinguishing “Cowtown” moniker to simultaneously embrace the now outdated pejorative for Columbus that implies an area of isolation, boredom, or lack of development, and serve as a subtle reminder of how rapidly the city’s cultural scene has progressed within the last few decades.
The complete list of artists exhibiting work includes Adam Brouillette, Coreroc, Cyrus Fire, Chi-Kit Kwong, Clinton Reno, Dan Gerdeman (the primary impetus behind the group), Joey Monsoon, Marina Goldshteyn, Sharon H. Bell, Skye Dalrymple, Stephanie Rond, and Thia Bella. Work by these creators will be on sale for extremely affordable prices, starting at about $20 for smaller framed pieces and topping off at around $500 (with most falling in the $50 to $150 zone), to gather money so that the group can combine the resources for statewide promotion of future events. Aside from a small portion spent on overhead funds, every dollar spent buying art will contribute toward a fund for the materials to build and disperse a large portfolio aimed at three different “tiers” of places that hold exhibitions. The first tier includes established Ohio museums of art, ranging from those in big cities like Columbus or Cleveland down to Akron and Toledo; the second refers to college or university galleries (like the Wexner Center at OSU), while the third is for more intimate spaces (such as the Chop Chop Gallery on Parsons Avenue). By generating enough money to send a promotional package out to every place possible, the unit can potentially display its offbeat ideas in new venues everywhere, ideally creating a new collective show in 2009 to run through 2010.
Bolstered by Junctionview Studios’ enormous and malleable space, show organizer Ashley Voss (aka Coreroc) contends that it’s almost impossible to hold a show in the building and not get a turn-out in the quadruple digits, ultimately connecting artists with more collectors and unifying a community.
“We artists do a lot to do to reach out with collectors, via promotions along lots of avenues, and I go through days, weeks and months of efforts promoting events. What will really help nurture the environment is getting the feedback from all the efforts we put out there and being able to pull collectors into a single place.” In many ways, the wildly versatile nature of Coreroc’s own work exemplifies what’s best about this kind of broadly encompassing show, as his toys, skate decks, and canvases can all be housed within a single exhibition that is unwilling to kowtow to convention.
The show will held between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. at 889 Williams Avenue on July 26. There is no admission, but a donation is suggested and gratefully accepted.
Originally Published: Issue 660 - July 23, 2008
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