Marginalia
Le Roman du Lievre: MARGINALIA, an experimental group exhibition of local Alaskan and international artists whose works, which range from painting and sculpture to video, performance and food, were all created in response to the same assigned text. The exhibition is curated by New York-based curator Leslie Rosa-Stumpf and Alaskan artist James Riordan, founder of the Le Roman du Lievre project series. MARGINALIA opened Friday, September 18, 2009 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM, celebrated with live readings, performances, and music.
The term “marginalia” refers to scribbles in the margin of a book created by an engaged—if potentially delinquent—reader. While seen as secondary to the original text, these writings and drawings, simultaneously become inseparable from it. Additionally, through critiquing, questioning, illustrating, outlining, and expounding upon a certain text, the reader becomes an active participant.
Marginalia can also take on a value divorced from the text which it accompanies. Over time, while a book’s content may become irrelevant or obsolete, that book’s marginalia, depending on substance and author, might instead grow in value.
These two conception of marginalia, both the effect of the readers peripheral involvement, and this involvements relevance outside of that which refers to, while still in an abstract way informing the original text, are at the core of this exhibition.
56 invited artists from around the world read Riordan’s English translation of French poet Francis Jammes’ 1903 novel Le Roman du Lievre. Using the themes contained within the text as a jumping off point (its plot most simply described as a the friendship between Saint Francis of Assisi and a hare), the artists created works in an individual fashion presenting a multitude of divergent personalities and processes, while in many cases recording their thoughts in the margins of the hand bound copies of the book they received from Riordan. The project’s blog on the home page of this site, a form of digital marginalia, also served as another outlet where artists could post their related stories, ideas, research, etc. The result of this experiment is an exhibition that provides insight into each artist’s creative practice, while abstractly presenting a narrative of Le Roman Du Lievre. Though connections will be drawn between each artist’s work and the text, their value will not be inherently related to their service as illustration. Like marginalia, these pieces will inform the text, elevating Le Roman Du Lievre, and bringing it closer to a state of collective completion.
A project that is ever evolving, MARGINALIA will not end in Anchorage, but is intended to travel in a revised form to different locations within the US and abroad. This show is the most recent manifestation of an ever-growing project based on Le Roman du Lievre. Earlier installments, which include artistic appendices to the book and culinary performances, are in the collections of the MOMA, Tate Britain and Chelsea School of Art and Design. Examples and documentation of these projects will also be present at the exhibition.
Participants
Curators:
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Leslie Rosa-Stumpf
Brooklyn, NY
Leslie received her Masters in Curating from Goldsmiths College in London and now works as a freelance curator in New York. SHe is the co founder of Parlour, a new nomadic exhibition space.
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James Riordan
Anchorage, AK
James is an Alaskan print-maker, book-binder, and advocate for the inclusion of art in every day activity and the every day in the arts.
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Contributing Artists:
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Samuel T. Adams
Brooklyn, NY
Lullaby to Saturn
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Ali Aschman
Brooklyn, NY
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Colleen Asper
Brooklyn, NY
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Alison Blickle
Brooklyn, NY
Rain Forest Fantasy 1
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Diann Bauer
Berlin, Germany
The Harlow Temple of Utopias
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Sam Bornstein
Brooklyn, NY
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Florence Boyd
London, UK
Birdmouth
Birdmouth was the beginning of an exploration into the dynamics of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ our bodies. The notion that as human beings we portray one image of ourselves to the outside world and that within us there are infinite creatures of our character dwelling. I question what might happen if these parts of ourselves we keep hidden escape and how they might be visualised. Jung was important to my research at this point in my practice.
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Esy Casey
Santa Cruz, CA
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Rosie Cooper
London, UK
Rosie Cooper's mini-parade tribute to bear costumes in contemporary visual arts (photographed as a work in progress) mixed media (costume wearers: Joe Royle & Gavin Pearce) 2008
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Ben Cove
London, UK
Tall, Dark, and Handsome (Detail)
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Corey D’Augustine
New York, NY
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Jennifer Dudley
Brooklyn, NY
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Emily Foden
Leeds UK
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Beka Goedde
Brooklyn NY
Makeshift Study
www.glowlab.com/artists/beka-goedde
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Great Alaska Brick Company
Anchorage, AK
www.brickcollaborative.wordpress.com
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Lara Hoke
Oakland, CA
Cara
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(image needed)
Ursula Kelly
London, UK
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James D. Keiser
Girdwood, Alaska
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Collin LaFleche
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.collinlafleche.com/
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Elysa Lozano
Oakland, CA
http://www.floatermagazine.com/issue01/Micro-organisations/
http://www.slashseconds.org/issues/003/001/articles/elozano/index.php
http://thepublicschool.org/214/the-democratic-museum-a-half-day-seminar/
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Nathan Manuel
New York, NY
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Enrique Marty
Salamanca, Spain
Wicker Man / 7 Animals Coming Out of a Wall
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Ted Mineo
Brooklyn, NY
Communion
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Stefano Minzi
LONDON, UK
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Azikiwe Mohammed
New York
www.azikiwephoto.com
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John Monteith
Brooklyn NY
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Emily Noelle Lambert
Sunnyside, NY
http://priskajuschkafineart.com/artists/Emily_Noelle_Lambert/Emily_Noelle_Lambert.php
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Tommy Salami O’Malley
Girdwood, AK
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Krista Peters
El Rito, NM
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Anna Raupp
Brooklyn, New York
Scroll and Rock Pile
My greatest habit is Making Place, figuring out what is the container and what is the space. I desire to achieve flow between art media, that of the mundane world and that which is invisible. I make art as a process of sensing and orienting. I aspire to make elevated states understandable and infectious.
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Reverse Retro
Anchorage, AK
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Anda Saylor
Anchorage, AK
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Leah Schreiber
Milwaukee, WI
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Vlad Smolkin
Brookline, MA
TABLES TURNED ON THIS DEER HUNTER (FRONT)
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Trish Tillman
Brooklyn, NY
Off Season
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Jakob von Eichel
NY, NY
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Lucy Ward
Bristol, UK
www.everycupofteaieverhad.co.uk
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Rachel R. Weber
New York, NY
rachelRweber.com
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Doug Williams
Oakland, CA
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Josh Wise
Brooklyn, NY
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Simon Woolham
Cambridge, UK
Black Cliff
HELD UP 