Sunday, June 7, 2009

Stone Soup Exhibition at Grace-Gallery - First Opening Friday, June 12/09

Grace-Gallery is the blank canvas for the upcoming Stone Soup Exhibition. (Grace-Gallery @ 2nd and Main, Vancouver, BC). Two Progressive, Site Specific Artworks will be made in the Gallery over the course of the exhibition and reworked each week by a new set of artists.

Lisa Birke (mural) and Sascha Yamashita (installation) - Friday, June 12th (8pm til late)

Weakhand (mural) and Christopher Donnelly (installation) - Friday, June 19th (8pm til late)

Christian Nicolay (mural) and Rebecca Donald (installation) - Friday, June 26th (8pm til late)

Curated by Jennifer Mawby with Grace-Gallery Rachel Zottenberg and co-produced with Sherri Kajiwara.

The folk legend of the STONE SOUP has direct application for our current economic times. In the story, famine has hit a small village. Each villager believes that there is no food to eat in their own cupboards. Then, a savvy stranger rolls into town with a story that he will make a meal for them all from just a magic stone that he carries with him. By encouraging the villagers to each bring a little something to add to the stone soup (such as a carrot or a potato) the stranger is able to create a nurturing meal for all to share.

News media is announcing to viewers on a daily basis about how tough the current economic climate is for us. Stock values have plummeted, and companies are in a no-growth and down-sizing period. People are losing their jobs and it appears to be famine season. To combat the belief that times are too tough, the stone soup fable can be applied to create recession-proof thinking in both art-making and the general public zeitgeist.

The STONE SOUP exhibition is a model for socially interactive, sustainable, and fiscally responsible art production using a group of artists to collaboratively and incrementally create an exhibition that nourishes all. The transient nature of the artwork as it evolves also reminds us that nothing truly is permanent, and that “this too will pass”.

Click for Full Curatorial Proposal

Click for Exhibition Schedule