CCA Wattis Institute Presents Amateurs
San Francisco, February 28, 2008
The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts will present the exhibition Amateurs from April 23 through August 9, 2008, in the lower-level Logan Galleries on the San Francisco campus of California College of the Arts. Organized by Ralph Rugoff, director of the Hayward Gallery in London, the exhibition is free and open to the public, with an opening reception Wednesday, April 23, 2008, from 6–8 p.m.
Amateurs surveys a terrain of artistic practice that departs from the hyperprofessionalization characterizing so much cultural production today. Whether collaborating with actual amateurs or working as amateurs in disciplines beyond the art world, the artists featured in this exhibition refuse to let the experts have the last word. They are committed instead to a democratization of artistic production—one that often invites us, the viewers, to reflect upon our own role as citizens in a participatory, democratic society.
Says Rugoff: "At a moment when the big news in contemporary art is so often related to skyrocketing auction prices, Amateurs explores the work of artists who embrace a nonprofessional ethic by collaborating with and/or documenting the art of amateur practitioners, and in some cases assuming that role themselves. Our landscape is being redefined by amateur-friendly phenomena such as YouTube and news blogs, and my hope is that the exhibition will provoke much-needed reflection on the values of amateur cultures and their potential for challenging the limitations of professional art practices. Ultimately, this exhibition seeks to remind us that we are all amateurs."
Amateurs will feature works by 18 international artists: Johanna Billing, Jennifer Bornstein, Andrea Bowers, Phil Collins, Jeremy Deller, Harrell Fletcher, Josh Greene, Cameron Jamie, Alan Kane, Long March Project, Yoshua Okon, Michele O'Marah, Hirsch Perlman, Jim Shaw, Simon Starling, Javier Téllez, Jeffrey Vallance, and Eric Wesley. It will be accompanied by a full-color exhibition catalog with essays by Rugoff and the scholar John Roberts.
Amateurs is made possible by an Emily Hall Tremaine Exhibition Award. The Exhibition Award program was founded in 1998 to honor Emily Hall Tremaine. It rewards innovation and experimentation among curators by supporting thematic exhibitions that challenge audiences and expand the boundaries of contemporary art.
Founding support for CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts programs has been provided by Phyllis C. Wattis and Judy and Bill Timken. Generous support provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe, and the CCA Curator's Forum.