My Highlights from FOG Design+Art 2014
The FOG Design+Art fair premiers next week, and I’m very excited that it will bring attention to contemporary art and design from a Bay Area perspective. For a region that prides itself on innovation and cultural awareness, it will be interesting to see what works resonate in this climate. From the FOG preview images, I made two group selections.
My Selection:
In the first group, I organized a few works that bring forward issues of context and identity associated with place. The selected artists and designers created works that capture a sense of distinct location, even when the work does not address a specific place:
Ed Ruscha, Motor City, 2009, at Crown Point Press
An interesting portrait of Detroit, American manufacturing, car culture and corporate logos. These etched vintage car emblem recall a not-so-distinct time and place in American history; a way of life that seems foreign today.
Filip Dujardin, GMRS 008, 2012, at Highlight Gallery
Dujardin’s large-scale prints seamlessly combine images of the built environment that seem almost plausible. This is a beautiful image commenting on a horrific but common condition. At what point does Growth only serve some of the population and not all?
Ron Arad, Little Albert, 2001, at Friedman Benda
N.I.C.E. Collective, Combat, 1999, at The NWBLK
This boot is the Duchamp Fountain of fashion design; the former military icon is now a contemporary androgynous dilettante. Urban legend has it that the boots are dusted with Blackrock sand...
The second group is a list of works I look forward to seeing in person; works where the image in enticing, but the in-person experience will be necessary:
Jack Rogers Hopkins, Sculptural Hand-Crafted Armchair and Environment, 1972, at Reform Gallery
Hun Chung Lee, Concrete Bench with Round Legs, 2012, at Gallery Seomi
Emil Lukas, Night Machine, 2011, at Hosfelt Gallery
