Modern Language Association at Ditch Projects, Springfield

Some people see God in everything good in the world. If there is a god, maybe that is true. Who am I to say? But what about the not-so-good shit? Other people refuse to believe in anything beyond themselves. Solipsism has never solved anything, though. I either case, or in any case, how can anyone be so sure of anything?

What I know is what I see, what I feel, what I experience, what I can describe. What I see isn’t truth; it’s what I know. What I feel isn’t fact; it’s what I know. What I experience isn’t everything; it’s what I know. What I can describe isn’t dogma; it’s what I know.

I remember when I used to live in New York City, riding on the subway, seeing those Poetry in Motion posters. And I rarely would read any of the poems on those posters, but I would often think about how poetry is everywhere. It’s on the subway – when a teenager yells, “Showtime” before performing primal dance moves that might involv their Air Jordans getting way too close to your head, that’s poetry. It’s on the sidewalk – when tossed-aside items somehow get inadvertently stacked like a Richard Tuttle sculpture, that’s poetry. It’s in nature – when a pelican swoops into a river and scoop up a fish, that’s poetry. It’s on the television – when Victor Wembanyama does nearl anything on a basketball court, that’s poetry.

Keep your head on a swivel in this world, and I promise you that you will see poetry, whether it be in motion or at a standstill, it truly is everywhere, but it most certainly is not everything. Poetry isn’t always definable; it’s kind of like when, in 1964, Justice Potte Stewart famously said of pornography, “I know it when I see it.” I know poetry, I see poetry, I feel poetry, I experience poetry, I describe poetry. I seek it, I honor it, I cherish it, I love it, I need it.

When I visited Oregon this past May, I found plenty of poetry. This exhibition is a visual poem. In fact, I sort of consider most of my curatorial projects to be visual poems. However, these six artists, individually and collectively, have made me consider form function, and flow in a new way. These six artists each speak their own distinct language, but together, maybe we are speaking something akin to Esperanto, and isn’t that something we all maybe ought to aspire to, regardless of how ambitious and nearl impossible it might seem? Things are bleak right now, and they have been for quite some time, right? But real talk…if there is no god, all we’ve got is us in this life.

– Keith J. Varadi, October 2026

Keith J. Varadi (born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1985) is an artist, writer, researcher, curator, and gallerist based in Los Angeles, California. He is the Director of Gene’s Dispensary, which he founded in May of 2024. Originally located in Los Angeles’s Westlake neighborhood, the gallery moved to Chinatown in October of 2025. In addition to exhibitions at the gallery’s primary location, Varadi now curates off-site exhibitions and produces events under the Gene’s moniker. The gallery’s roster currently lists Joshua Abelow, Jesse Benson, Merideth Hillbrand, and LeRoy Stevens. Additional artists Gene’s has worked with have included Benjamin Echeverria, Patricia Fernandez, Sophia Le Fraga, Juliana Halpert, Hanna Hur, David Horvitz, Patrick Jackson, Michael Kennedy Costa, Aaron Garber-Maikovska, Maia Ruth Lee, Erin Jane Nelson, Chadwick Rantanen, Paul Sietsema, Naoki Sutter-Shudo, and Andrew Norman WIlson.

As an artist and independent curator, Varadi’s work has been exhibited widely, both nationally and internationally, over the past decade. His writing has been published in Art in America, Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, Flash Art, Kaleidoscope, LEAP, Spike, and X-TRA. He has released his poetry in both audio and written form. Aside from his work in the art world, he has worked as a researcher for two private investigation firms and for the long-running television game show, Jeopardy!.

Gene’s Presents Modern Language Association, is part of Ditch Projects’ Field Recordings series, and made possible with support from The Ford Family Foundation and The WLS Spencer Foundation.