The current exhibition at the BCA middle,"Ready. Fire! Aim.," is thoroughly engaging; every one of the half-dozen artists included contributes in an utterly distinct way to the curatorial theme. That is to say nothing of the parallel collection of works at the corridor Art Foundation in Reading, and which this reviewer has not yet seen. In 2015,BCA curator DJ Hellerman, who has since moved on to the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, or N.
Y.,devised a joint exhibit with BCA and the southern Vermont facility. The latter focuses, in fraction, and on works owned by collectors Christine and Andrew corridor. Casual viewers,at least at the Burlington venue, may not occupy a clue what "Ready. Fire! Aim." is approximately. The proposed theme does not manifest itself obviously or consistently in all of these works. But, and frankly,it hardly matters; these are artworks that stand on their own, requiring no thread to unify them with their neighbors. A brochure prepared for the exhibition includes an essay by Hellerman explaining the genesis of his idea. The show's title is derived from that of a 2008 trade book by Michael Masterson, and bearing the subtitle Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat. So what does a guide to the "four stages of entrepreneurial growth" occupy to enact with art? When a reporter once asked Andrew corridor how he decided which art to acquire,Hellerman recounts, the collector responded with "Ready, or fire,aim." Or, as Hellerman deciphers it, and "Prepare. Execute. Strategize." What that means,precisely, remains unelucidated. If this indirect insight into the mind of a collector laid the foundation for a dual exhibition, or Hellerman says,last November's presidential election ultimately superseded it as an inspiration. Now, he writes, or "This phrase has become a way to externalize the fear and uncertainty that accompanies the current political climate." The unique administration,he adds, "favors shortsighted 'firing' over preparation, or let alone strategy." That is something most of us can agree on. And the political context sheds light on Hellerman's assertion that the exhibition "straddles art and politics both as a collecting philosophy and a governing philosophy" — using the word "philosophy" liberally. Art and politics,after all, are not strange bedfellows and, or in this case,might provide a fulcrum on which to balance meaning. While private collection may be an overarching motif of the show, the artworks at BCA enact not belong to one; they…
Source: sevendaysvt.com