Last night I went out for the First Friday ARTScrawl here in Albuquerque. It's the beginning of the year and the town is bursting with energy. Among the sites I visited were 5G and Graft. Both had very democratic group shows. Between the two galleries I may have seen 500 pieces of artwork.
5G hosted the Sixth Annual Peoples Art Show. A group show hung salon style representing a huge range of Albuquerque artists. The curatorial process here can be described as, "Bring your art". The brand new gallery Graft had it's first opening with Fun-A-Day. Artists and non-artists alike were invited to create a project, one piece a day, during the month of January. The results were displayed on the gallery walls. I'm sure the variety and volume of work in both of these shows posed significant challenges to those responsible for hanging the art. Of the zines, paintings, photographs, sculptures, prints, drawings, and knitting I saw last night I only connected to a handful of pieces. Still I went home so inspired just by the amount of creative energy that I had the privilege to witness.
When I go to a gallery I rarely connect to the object I am looking at. I really don't like most art. I think this is true for most people. However, I always appreciate the work. I appreciate that people stop everything else and take the time to create. I appreciate that energy is spent trying to communicate, trying to express something. This evidence of creative energy makes me really happy. In a way, I feel like every artist statement could be reduced to:
"I'm thinking..." or,
"I'm feeling..." or even just,
"I am."
To encounter so many people who shout, "I am." at the same time is pretty cool. Thank you to all who participate in the artistic dialogue, thank you to all who share.