skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Since we've got less than half an hour left in this COCKED! show I figured it's o.k. to start on this much delayed but anticipated blog entry.
What can I say? COCKED! was not your typical show and I realized early on (probably the day after our slammed opening) that it deserved the space and time for deeper observation and reflection. So I decided that it would be best to sit back and take it all in before attempting to address it. ...Hmmm, where do I start?
The opening itself seems like a blur now. We got a taste of what was to come when people started showing up before our 'official' opening time of 7pm. Seth Augustine was still busy setting up for his performance out front and I was inside trying desperately to get the price sheet and other materials finished and printed out. Finally, at around 7:15 and with the crowd growing, we kicked the door open and let them in. From there on it was total mayhem. I just want to laugh. It's actually hard to describe this night. There was so much happening at the same time: the waves of people coming and going; the three black-outs inside the gallery over the two hour period of Seth's performance (caused by the commercial halogen spotlights that he used on himself)--no one seemed to mind and it just added to the carnival atmosphere; the crazy-ass writer who kept interrupting everyone (even during performances!) for the piece he wrote on the show; Scott Horsley breaking down and drinking wine (inconceivable!); and all of the other stranger-than-fiction goings on. I should have known this wouldn't be a normal opening--not with 21 artists in the show. At midnight we still had a small group hanging out in front and it was 1am before I finally locked the front door and went home.
It took me about two weeks to get over the opening. Not just the hangover but the total shell-schock exhaustion that followed. I seriously don't think that I could have written anything, even if I'd wanted to. But little by little a semblance of order was restored.
Tap, tap, tap...clack, clack, clack...zip!...Some reviews: (click on links below)
**********************************
"Construction Zone | Lael Corbin's 'Remodel' is familiar looking, but full of surprise", Robert Pincus,
The San Diego Union-Tribune
**********************************
"Lael Corbin remodels his art", Kevin Freitas, San Diego CityBeat
**********************************
"Lael Corbin at Luis De Jesus Seminal Projects", July-August issue, ArtScene
[note: this is a preview; complete review will appear in upcoming isse]
Sorry folks, my web guy is m.i.a. (Buenos Aires, last I heard), so we're a little behind getting the installation shots of Lael Corbin's Remodel exhibition up on our site. Nevertheless, I just want to say, this is in no way a substitution for experiencing the work in person, which in truth, is why I held off doing it. Like the "drive-by" gallery visitor who slows down just long enough to crank his head and take in the show (seriously!), the web has become too convenient an alternative for visiting galleries and experiencing the art, live, in person. 
And, after all, I think most people get that Remodel is as much about the experience as it is about the 'objects'. Each space generates its own "storyline" and "scent" (think dirt, humus, sawdust, wood...) that triggers a flood of memories and responses, as different from each other as they are from one person to another. 
One of my personal favorites is Untitled (Laundry Room). These Rubick's cube-like objects are soooo soft and soooo beautiful (I admit, the temptation to caress and give them a big hug is pretty huge--and this is such a manly show) but it also gives me the creeps! ...Not sure why. Something in my childhood, I suppose... (dirty things happen in there!), but I'm certain it's grist for some therapist's mill.
Now that the dust has settled I look back at this whole REMODEL experience with an uncommon pleasure I know rarely accompanies the "real" thing. So, here are a few of our favorite sights and sounds generated over the course of the installation and opening...
#3: Our neighbor's reaction to the bright orange scaffolding that went up hours before the opening: "How long is that thing staying up for?!"
#2: The guy on the bike who shouted "You need a plumber?!" as he passed by the day before.
#1: The little 3-year old boy who, at the height of the opening, entered "Untitled (Bathroom)" and began to unzip his fly in front of the "toilet" (his grandma caught him just in time). Oh, if only!
"Amazing" and "brilliant" sometimes sound like clichés and certainly among the most overused of adjectives, but in the case of Corbin--and specifically this new body of work--it barely comes close to describing the full experience of this phenomenal artist and exhibition. I haven't seen so many heads turn and mouths open since Leigh Bowery showed up with Boy George one Halloween night at the Sound Factory with his big bald head poking out of a toilet seat. Except this was a way classier affair. With Remodel, Lael Corbin has proven he's earned his chops as possibly the singularly most talented young artist in San Diego today. Some people may argue this point, but, let me tell you--I've seen a lot of art in the last 20+ years and instinctly know when someone 'has it'--and this young artist stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of them. 
His type doesn't come around very often and I am convinced that he is on his way to becoming a big deal. I really wish that everyone in New York and Los Angeles could see this show. This is what I am talking about--the seminal experience--being inside a point in time that marks a revolution, an adjustment of the status quo, of the same ho-hum crap that too often passes for art these days. Ok, I'll get off my pedestal... Here's Brian Dick, fighting for the spotlight with "Glue Bear" at the top of "Untitled (Stairs/Bear Den)" installation (guess who's going to win this one?) ...and Lucia Sanroman, assistant curator at MCASD, staring lovingly at a 2x4. Her "I am so jealous!" made my night. Thank you, Lucia!
Around 5pm yesterday, Tina Yapelli (left) dropped by with Anja Bruggemann. Tina is director of San Diego State's University Art Gallery and Anja is a curator and teaches at Ohio State University in Columbus. Tina had just finished giving Anja a tour of the future satellite space that University Art Gallery will inaugurate this coming fall. UAG is taking over the front half of the ground floor at the new 43-story Electra condominium tower (built around the shell of the original 1911 SDG&E building), which sits directly across from the Museum of Contemporary Art, at the corner of Broadway and Kettner. This is going to give a fabulous boost to the already hot art scene developing downtown, with India Street as the main axis. Tina is a one-woman wonder and San Diego is extremely fortunate to have her.
Since we've got less than half an hour left in this COCKED! show I figured it's o.k. to start on this much delayed but anticipated blog entry.
