CRITICAL GROUND / Critical Sessions
June 13 - 15, 2019
Granary Arts is excited to launch CRITICAL GROUND, an initiative exploring how the dialogue of art critique might shift towards communities and artists working outside the frameworks of NYC and LA. An experimental venture, the intention is to create a platform and space for this conversation in Utah, and to serve as a model for other places in the country with like-minded vision.
CRITICAL GROUND explores the impact of art criticism and the democratization of art critique through the sharing of ideas and experiences with the intention of mapping an alternate way forward that is more inclusive of the spectrum of work created across the country.
Critical Ground is rooted in the work of art critic Darren Jones, and emerged from conversations between Jones and Granary Arts Executive Director, Amy Jorgensen.
This two-part event was made up of two unique sessions; a series of conversations and brainstorms between visiting critics and artists, curators, writers, and other stakeholders from the region. CRITICAL SESSIONS are roving: they are studio visits, site visits, and formal and informal discussions. It is a space where strategic thinking meets creative action with the intention to shift the current framework of art critique hierarchy to highlight work outside metro-centered locales.
COllaborators
CRITICAL GROUND / ON THE GROUND
Set out early to dash across Utah from dawn until night, conducting studio visits with an array of creative workers. It was a spectacular example of the breadth and depth of thinking, and innovation, going on in contemporary art in this state; again, the first state in the country to have a state funded arts council (1899)…