January Exhibitions

This semester I am attempting to visit more art.  It is a bit of a challenge due to my location and life happening bu so far I've been to two shows. While still in Boston I managed to catch the MFA's Mario Testino: In Your Face exhibit. I questioned some of the choices considered fine art. At what point in advertising does a photo cross the border between artistic and just old hat, and who exactly makes those calls. The printing, framing and lighting choices in the gallery were all important in framing the work as different forms of art, but I found myself leaving skeptical.

Upon my return home from Boston my new Mentor invited me to her collaborative exhibit Onn/Of Light Festival. The entrance to the exhibit was through a shady back door entrance with black and white drippy 8ft plywood signs.  Again, I was skeptical of the entire event based on first impression. Once inside the show took on a different tone. It felt sort of like a night club art opening.

 
There were free standing sculptures, paintings, crafting centers, holograms, filmography and even a prison style tattoo station.

The theme of every piece was supposed to be light in the gloom of winter. I think some of the pieces were very successful on their own, but I felt a lot of the work needed some form of explanation. It got me thinking about what is too much and too little information for the common viewer. At what point as a conceptual artist do you give more, and is it even necessary? Is the confusion of the art itself part of the entire project?