OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Release: October 22, 2010
The Exhibition Agency
2351 N. Milwaukee Ave. 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60647
http://www.theeexhibitionagency.org
theexhibitionagency@gmail.com

Violence at The Exhibition Agency
Curated by The Exhibition Agency and Los Caminos
Exhibition Dates: November 6 – December 4, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 6, 7 – 10 PM
Traveling to Los Caminos (St. Louis, MO), December 11, 2010 – January 15, 2011

Artists
Mathew Paul Jinks (Chicago, IL)
Molly Zuckerman-Hartung (Chicago, IL)
Michael Sirianni (Chicago, IL)
Justin Gainan (Kansas City, MO)
RJ Messineo (St. Louis, MO)
Brandon Anschultz (St. Louis, MO)

Exhibition Narrative
In this exhibition, there are no fiery explosions or sharpened knives.  And unlike Richard Serra’s Splashing (1968), where the artist hurled molten lead against a wall inside the Castelli Warehouse, the works in this exhibition do not engage with violence as an outwardly directed force—lacking a distinct target, such as the physical gallery or the art world. These six artists explore the subject/object relations of violence through more subtle and intimate forms that concern the frustration between the personal and the historical, the material and the conceptual, and the limitations of medium-specificity.

Though directed inwardly, this form of violence still bears a physical presence. Whether using the body to act out towards their materials or exploring the violence inherent in their respective mediums, the artists explore the heavy weight of art historical tradition while at the same time opening up a space for subjective experience. The artworks have become subject to the frustrations and futility of creative production through cutting, nailing, and tearing (Molly Zuckerman-Hartung), or erasing the figure as a means to evoke a stance against the primacy of the visual field (Justin Gainan and Michael Sirianni). RJ Messineo cuts and reassembles a wooden panel, traditionally reserved for painting, into a sculptural form. Instead of reconstructing the panel to open up a space, however, she sees her work as enclosing a space, making it more insular and private.  Brandon Anschultz exhibits his canvases from behind; in piles of sawed-up remnants; or cut from the frame, folded into a three-dimensional object. Matthew Paul Jinks explores the properties of his chosen materials, such as brass and oak, creating site-specific installations that aggressively consume the exhibition space.

Frustrated with the overwhelming aura of art history’s past—just go through the alphabet from August Rodin to the Zero Group—any attempts to thwart or rework tradition appear futile when thought of in terms of the historical avant-garde.  Confronted with such an overwhelming task, these works communicate a more personal approach. The rupture that occurs from this act—between the subject and his or her materials—renders the past visible in the present and creates a stage that brings forth memories of art history past, but also, the intimate and cultural memories that inform all work.

Exhibition History
In the summer of 2010, the curators of the former Concertina Gallery, a curatorial project space located in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, attended the ACRE residency in rural Wisconsin.  During their stay, they conceived of Violence as a means to continue collaborating across the Midwest in their new roles and locations.

Artist Biographies
Brandon Anschultz was born in Judsonia, Arkansas and currently lives and works in St. Louis.  Since receiving his MFA from Washington University St. Louis in 2002 he has exhibited widely, including exhibitions in: Missouri, Illinois, New York, California, Tennessee, Kansas City, and Taiwan. Anschultz’s recent solo exhibition, Stick Around for Joy (2010), was exhibited at Laumeier Sculpture Park from July – October 2010 and will travel to the Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans in November 2010. Anschultz attended the Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions (ACRE) in the summer of 2010.

Justin Gainan originates from Corpus Christi, Texas and now lives and works in Kansas City. Gainan received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (2004) and his MFA from Goldsmith College, University of London (2009).  He has exhibited throughout Europe and the Americas, with exhibitions in: Missouri, Texas, California, England, and Germany. His work is on view at the Art Museum in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico from November 15, 2010 through February 2011 He has had solo exhibitions at Dolphin Gallery  (2007) and the Lynn Foundation (2004), both in Kansas City.  This will be the first presentation of Gainan’s work in Chicago.

Molly Zuckerman-Hartung was born in 1975 in Los Gatos, California. She lives and works in Chicago where she received her MFA in Painting from the School of the Art Institute (2007).  She co-runs Julius Caesar with Dana DeGiulio, Diego Leclery, Colby Shaft and Hans Peter Sundquist. She has had solo exhibitions at John Connelly Presents, NYC and Rowley Kennerk Gallery where she is represented. Group shows include Jacky Strenz, Frankfurt (2009), Waymaker Gallery, and the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago (2009).

Mathew Paul Jinks completed his undergraduate studies at The Glasgow School of Art in Scotland U.K, in 2005. He completed his MFA as a University Fellow at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2008.  Jinks has exhibited both in the U.K and the U.S most recently in Chicago in solo shows at The Green Lantern Gallery and Gallery 400’s At The Edge series. He was included in Artists Run Chicago at the Hyde Park Art Center in the summer of 2009. In 2010, Matthew Paul Jinks was featured in the NEXT Art fair at Art Chicago.

RJ Messineo earned an MFA from UCLA (2009) and a BFA from Cornell University (2002).  Messineo currently lives and works in Saint Louis. She has had solo exhibitions at Los Caminos, St. Louis (2010), Imprenta, Los Angeles (2009) and Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles (2010). Messineo’s work has also been included in group exhibitions at REDCAT, Los Angeles; Redling Fine Art, Los Angeles; and Boots Contemporary Art Space, Saint Louis.

Originally from Utica, New York, Michael Sirianni currently lives and works in Chicago. Sirianni received his MFA from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010 and has exhibited on a national and international scale, including exhibitions in Chicago, British Columbia, Philadelphia, New York, and Amsterdam. Sirianni was selected by Time Out Chicago’s Lauren Weinberg as one of the three best artists in the Hyde Park Art Center’s Ground Floor MFA exhibition (2010) in an article titled, “Chicago's Next Art Stars.” Sirianni also recently won a prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant. In the summer of 2010, Sirianni attended the Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions (ACRE).