BOAT SHOW
27 artists respond to the seafaring life and the semiotics of boats

April 15 – May 20, 2006

Winnie Bowers, Carla Bozulich, Brian Bress, Naomi Buckley, Jimmy Chertkow, Billy Childish, Brad Eberhard, Doug Harvey, Andrea Hornick, Jasmine Justice, Raffi Kalenderian, Alan Ludwig, Amy Maloof, Nick Lowe, Jun Ohnuki, Eric Palgon, Pierre Picot, Ry Rocklen, Steve Roden, Greg Santos, April Schwass, Ami Tallman, Rob Thom, Tran Truong, Dani Tull, Wendy White, and Jonas Wood.

Curated by Brad Eberhard and Raffi Kalenderian

High Energy Constructs, Los Angeles, announces its first group exhibition, BOAT SHOW, featuring paintings, drawings, and other objects resulting from various reflections upon the maritime life and the semiotics of boats.

Curated by Brad Eberhard and Raffi Kalenderian, BOAT SHOW presents a survey of images by 27 contemporary artists whose works engage the pathos of the sea. Today, ‘the boat’ exists simultaneously as a pertinent historical and popular icon, both metaphorically and authentically an empty vessel into which artists may stow their concerns and, in turn, navigate the expanse.

The relationships between the individual pieces along with the overall theme of the exhibition result from the curator’s criteria that the artwork meet the same standards of diligence and craftsmanship found in the lives of sailors and shipbuilders; standards which dictate a certain hand-made quality and that echo a spirit of discovery and independence.

Playing off the Vorticists’ “Blessing to All Seafarers” portion of their 1914 manifesto, “THEY exchange not one LAND for another, but one ELEMENT / for ANOTHER. The MORE against the LESS ABSTRACT”, the curators claim that “the artist shares the independence, tradition, and danger of the SEAFARER, navigating REAL SPACE into a translation that is the MORE ABSTRACT.” This fleet – crafted by 27 adventurous souls – is anachronistic, compelling, and handmade, not unlike the vessels that inspired them.

About the Curators:

Brad Eberhard is a Los Angeles based artist whose paintings have been exhibited in New York and Los Angeles, and in such publications as Harper’s and the New York Times.

Raffi Kalendarian was born in North Hollywood in 1981. He is a graduate of UCLA and currently exhibits with Black Dragon Society in Chinatown.

(detail photos from exhibition by: j. ohnuki)