Other established artists, many who have affinity for or loyalty to SOEX, donated pieces. These artists included Catherine Wagner, Andrew Schoultz, David Ireland, and Ajit Chauhan. Chauhan donated “Safe Travels to the Now/Ass You Like It,” a piece in ink and graphite on paper.
The swath of work chosen for the auction always includes artists who have participated in an SOEX exhibition during the last three years. Some artists are invited to participate, such as Vanessa Marsh, a photographer and recent grad from California College of the Arts (CCA), who is likely to have an exhibition in the future.
One of the most recent to come up through this tradition is Tara Foley, who donated “Landscape number 12,” a gouache, tape, and pencil piece. A week ago Foley wrapped up Say Hello to Neverending, a solo show at Fecal Face Gallery in downtown San Francisco. Say Hello… charts the symbiotic relationship between destruction and creation by mapping a world ruled by juxtapositions.
“Sometimes we do have work that is purely aesthetic, but then again, when it comes to the artist, it’s really about the work going on in the community right now,” says Le Duc. “Right now it is work which is socially aware, and politically active, such as the work by Hank Willis Thomas.” Thomas donated a digital print called “Black Power,” a close-up of a mouth with a gold grill.
“Hank has an uncanny ability to unpack what it is about pop culture that institutionalizes racism,” says Le Duc. “He confronts the co-opting of the black male body. The words ‘black power’ in the grill, this hyper-hyper reality of seeing every pore and hair on this guy’s face takes it to ‘where is the power coming from?’”
Southern Exposure never worries about what sells or looks good, nor does it invoke ideas of a historic or aesthetic canon. “That’s more the business of a museum.”
As Le Duc simply puts it, “We’re in the business of supporting emerging artists and artists and as they create new work. There’s no sense of hierarchy. We stay focused on the overall goal.”
Beginning the move to a new space, Southern Exposure plans to open the doors to spacious Mission district digs in spring of 2009, where it will continue its self-described work as a “daring, nimble, and accessible arts organization.”
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