NOWHERE 2014: R. Luke DuBois—NOW

Through May 4, Museum of Art, Searing Wing

Dr. Matthew McLendon, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art

It can be a destabilizing experience when faced with the work of an artist like R. Luke DuBois for the first time. If contemporary art is a new interest for you, you might feel as though you are at sea—is he a composer? a filmmaker? an installation artist? You might find yourself asking, “how do I find an entrance into this work? Where do I begin?”

First off, give yourself a break; you are not alone! I find that most of the time audiences new to contemporary art have difficulty enjoying it because they are wrapped up in their anxieties about understanding it. “Will my friends know that I don’t know?” Unfortunately, there is a lot of pressure surrounding contemporary art because of the arcane knowledge, real or perceived, that is required to fully comprehend its meaning. It is true, most contemporary art requires some level of context and familiarity with the artist’s larger oeuvre which will provide a deeper experience of the work. However, you shouldn’t feel completely lost without this context.

The good news is, R. Luke DuBois—Now is a survey of Luke’s work, so if you spend a fair amount of time in the exhibition, you will have a very good understanding of his practice. Yet, I know that first visit can still be a bit intimidating, so I would like to give you a few points of entry into Luke’s work to frame your initial experience.

One of the main themes that interests Luke is time and how it is portrayed in art. How does the artist grapple with the abstract concept of time? For Luke, an artist not bound by traditional media, this question becomes a through-line of his practice. Whether it is Vertical Music, his video portrait of 12 musicians or Fashionably Late for the Relationship, the 72-minute video document of the 72-hour performance piece, you will see in Luke’s work a meditation on how we all mediate temporality in our lives.

Another continuing interest of Luke’s is the nature of portraiture. Linked closely with his interest in temporality, Luke experiments with ways in which our traditional notions of portraiture might be expanded. How does the artist create a portrait of a performer; a subject whose art is linked with temporal experience? Again, this is a question being explored in the two works mentioned above. However, in works such as A More Perfect Union and Hindsight is Always 20/20, we are confronted by expanded definitions of the portrait. In the former, Luke uses data collected from 19 million online dating profiles to create a series of maps in which the words we use to self-describe become geographic loci. In the latter, he again uses words to create portraits—this time, portraits of epochs. By systematizing the language used by our Presidents in their State of the Union addresses, Luke produces shockingly succinct verbal portraits of the times in which each president lived.

Certainly other themes abound in the wide-ranging practice of R. Luke DuBois and these will be explored in the exhibition. However, if on your first viewing you keep the themes of time and portraiture in mind as you experience the works, I am confident that any anxieties you have about “not understanding” contemporary art will be assuaged. Comfortable with some of the subject matter, you will then be able to find your own entry points into the work, your own meanings and consonances, and will, I’m sure, find yourself returning to the exhibition with your own questions to be explored.

GENRE CREATES GHETTO/ CONVERSATIONS ON CURATING IN A POST-GENRE

WORLD

Mildred Sainer Pavilion / New College of Florida

Fri, Mar 21, 6:30 pm

The Artist and The Curator Keynote conversation with R. Luke DuBois and Matthew McLendon.

Tickets: $5/ Free for Museum Members, Professionals, Academic Faculty and Students with valid ID. 941.360.7399

Sat, Mar 22, 10:00 am - 4:30 pm

Curating in a Post-Genre World

The nation’s leading curators of contemporary art and performance offer new perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of creating, curating, and presenting the work of living artists. Presented in three sessions:

10:00 am: R. Luke DuBois joins a panel of fellow genre-busting artists.

1:00 pm: Leaders of the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University share innovations in presenting time-based art.

3:00 pm: Curators and scholars of contemporary art explore our everevolving cultural landscape.

Tickets: $20 / $15 for Museum Members / Free for Museum Professionals, Academic Faculty and Students with valid ID. 941.360.7399

A fixed-price lunch for Saturday attendees is available at Treviso for $15 plus tax and gratuity. Reservations required: 941.360.7390