June 10, 2019

DLG195A A two-part episode: Curator/writer, Jillian Steinhauer discusses a show she's curated, THEN artist Christopher Stout talks queer abstraction.

59 minutes

00.00-00.30:

Art critic/writer and now curator, Jillian Steinhauer hit a collective nerve with a powerfully meaningful exhibition she’s curated at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts titled In the Presence of Absence. The show is described briefly here by Mary Louise Schumacher, "When it comes to grief, our culture values the stiff upper lip. But stoic composure comes with a price. It keeps the realities at arm’s length, including truths about the erasure, enslavement and slaughter of Native Americans and Africans. A small show in New York, “In the Presence of Absence,” suggests that mourning may be a means of empowerment and a way through. It is a show that requires a certain openness, a bit of courage even, to experience." — Picking up on a line in exhibition statement from Jillian, it says, This exhibition is dedicated to Henrietta, Suzanne, and Bronia. We learn that two of these women are Jillian's grandmothers, and the third is her partners mother, who have all passed away in the past three years. Jillian takes us on an examination of how she activated her own interest in art, artists and art writing to take her on a journey of healing and understanding grief and death as a personal, as well as a universal level. Talking about these topics and the exhibition helps demonstrate that facing grief is of course sad, but also can be comforting, uplifting and helps us recognize each other as human across all boundaries. A true demonstration that art is healing.

00.30-00.59

A long term art world teammate of mine, close friend, artist and former gallerist Christopher Stout talks about his latest work at Lichtunfire and his interest and exploration of the concept of Gay Abstraction in his work. It’s a fascinating topic because it is an emerging term, one that Christopher is helping to define. Stout also gives us a hint about the new project he is commandeering to catalogue the past and present of art in Bushwick from 2010 on.

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