SMALL TALk

MAIN GALLERY

July 18, 2017 - August 12, 2017

The Painting Center is pleased to present Small Talk featuring artists from Indiana University Bloomington. This exhibition references a typical form of surface-level conversation and a desire for artists to communicate. These artists are concerned with the ways in which they communicate with each other, and also how they all interact with their work. Furthermore, they seek to address the larger conversation the work has with the viewer, location and place in art history. The individual paintings from these artists were brought together in the same space to spark new conversations between the work, the artists, and the viewers. The aim is to encourage conversations that transcend polite “small talk” both in the gallery and in the public sphere. The conversation of what is valued in contemporary art is in constant flux. Each generation of artists focuses on different concerns and questions. The importance of communication and interaction with the past, present, and future, is key. Conversation can create new meaning and allow us an opening to find common ground; something we desperately need in the world today. The spectrum of artists represented in the exhibition showcase a wide range of topics, energies, and processes. Small Talk makes plain the versatility and integrity of the IUB Painting program, while opening the door to new conversations in relation to contemporary art and society as a whole.