Thin Places at Smart Objects Landers

Artists: Tania J Alvarez, Derek Paul Boyle, Alberto Cuadros, Coco Hall, Ann Hirsch, Brandon Drew Holmes, Cheyenne Julien, Winslow Laroche, Pete Marsh, Keely Nelson-Rivers, Paul Rouphail, Michael Stasis, Kelly Witmer

Exhibition title: Thin Places

Curated by: Chadwick Gibson

Venue: Smart Objects Landers, Landers, California, US

Date: June 5 – 11, 2017

Photography: images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Thin places lie on a threshold, often described as a holy moment conjured by a specific location or experience. But the site and the triggers of thin places vary for each person. Whether at a cavernous church, a winding river, a parking lot, or in the middle of a repetitive task, thin places seem possible anywhere, at any time.

Though potentially ubiquitous, thin places tend to occur at sites removed from society, locales where our ties to reality fall away, and direct experience becomes paramount. It’s in these settings where our minds fully open and regain their ability to encounter raw existence in it’s fullest, unfettered form.

Of all natural landscapes, the desert is perhaps the best environment to encounter a thin place. The silence, stone, sand, and cacti have a mysterious presence, like an expansive theater of timeless characters, posturing for our contemplation.

With the exhibition, Thin Places , a group of artists have contributed works that engage with the notion of liminal space in a variety of forms. Some pieces involve vistas, others psychopomps, and some everyday objects, but as a whole the show attempts to create its own thin place, within the expanse of the High Desert.

Thin Places, 2017, installation view, Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Alberto Cuadros, No Dialogue ever, except beep-beep, 2017, Gouache and paper on canvas, 9 x 12 inches

Thin Places, 2017, installation view, Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Derek Paul Jack Boyle, Rocks Socks, 2017, Acrylic on birch panel, 24 x 48 inches

Keely Nelson-Rivers, If You Know, You Know, 2016, Acrylic and Pastel on Canvas, 10 x 8 inches

Thin Places, 2017, installation view, Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Coco Hall, Rock Collection from Hell, 2015, Paper mache, wire, paint, 30.5 x 25 x 5 inches

Thin Places, 2017, installation view, Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Tania J. Alvarez, The Book, 2016, Acrylic on fabric paper, 5 x 7 inches

Cheyenne Julien, Upon Awakening, 2017, Oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches

Thin Places, 2017, installation view, Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Ann Hirsch, Carson, 2017, Graphite, and colored pencil on paper, 26 x 40 inches; Dick, 2017, Graphite, and colored pencil on paper, 26 x 40 inches

Tania J. Alvarez, Godliness is Cleanliness, 2016, Acrylic, marker, plastic, 4 x 10 inches

Tania J Alvarez, Untitled (Mission Chips & Keg Cups), 2016, Variable

Thin Places, 2017, installation view, Smart Objects, Los Angeles

Paul Rouphail, Landscape with a Tree on Fire, 2017, Acrylic on linen, 32 x 46

Brandon Drew Holmes, Dove + Jasmine: If Aliens visit me while I’m in the desert, Ima tell em about white people, 2017, Ink, graphite on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches

Winslow Laroche, I Do My Own Stunts, 2017, Digital Print, plastic sleeve, desert rock, 8.5 x 11 inches

Brandon Drew Holmes, La Porscha: The Green Book was a travel manual to help aid Black ppl to travel safely Across North America, 2017, Ink, graphite on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches; Dove + Jasmine: If Aliens visit me while I’m in the desert, Ima tell em about white people, 2017, Ink, graphite on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches