In Brief: a Private Study now open in the Backroom Gallery

In Brief: a Private Study

A group exhibition curated by Sabina Nieto of Mauve? Office
November 19 -  December 18, 2011
Opening reception: Saturday, November 19th, 7-10pm

In Brief is a curated group exhibition specifically for Adobe Books that tips its hat to the architectural tradition of the gentleman’s study, providing a local iteration of contemporary content.  This project borrows from the traditional artifacts and techniques found in the private study as it takes the form of a personal library, a room for writing, a curio cabinet, and a modest collection of learned or worldly objects within the private sphere of the home.

This installation, varied in medium—word, image, and object, teeters between a private collection and the creating of a space for one’s own thoughts. Charles Wilson Peale meets St. Jerome.

Home-made bookmaking, tongue-in-cheek embroidered sampler, letterpressed quoteables of inspired literacy, fictionalized Gold Rush portraits, emulsion experiment, a memento mori, an illustrated catalogue of space aliens, a writer’s desk, allusions to personal maps, and other such metaphors for the enclosures of the mind.

The history of the study is one where residential living became “comfortable” enough so as to include a private room one could retreat to.  “In Brief” nods to the bookstore at large as an allegory to the communal space of the home; the Backroom Gallery provides a quiet core for taking note of the world of books just beyond the threshold.

Participating artists:
Neil Berrett
Jackie Hancock
Katie Hawkinson
Katie Hoffman
Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.
Alexis Lopez
Dharushana Muthulingham
Pamela Palma
Alissa Polan
Jane Sloss
chandra thuy tran
Mark Wise

Chelsea Ryoko Wong
Amber Jean Young