Olja Stipanovic

https://sites.google.com/site/curatorsraisinghumans/

CURATORS [raising humans]
ARTISTS: Amy Bay, Elizabeth Cohen, Erika deVries, Lalie Douglas, E. Ashley Fox, Masha Godovannaya, John LaMacchia, Shelly Low, Maja Malbon, Caitlin Masley, Alison Mercer, Joomee Paik, Kristen Palazzo, Zhenya Plechkina and Misha Sklar / VYDAVY SINDIKAT Maja Rakočević - Cvijanov, Maja
Radešić, Elena Skoko / BLUEBIRD AND SKOKO, Ivan Stojaković, and Dina Weiss.


CURATED BY: Olja Stipanović

Curator -

Main Entry: cu·ra·tor

Function: noun

Etymology: (from Latin cura, care), cura -ae f. [care]; (1) [care taken, carefulness, pains, attention, minding of things or persons]; of business, [management, administration]; [an object of care, or a guardian, caretaker]. (2) [care felt, anxiety, worry, disquiet].

: one who has the care and superintendence of something; especially : one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit: Law. a guardian of a minor, disabled, or similar, esp. with regard to his or her property.



CURATORS [raising humans] is a group show featuring artists connected by a particular understanding of time and space. They are all curators. In the original Latin sense of the word - they are the curators of aches and pains, meals and playtimes, first steps and first words. They cure disappointment, scrapped knees, and all kinds of hunger. They are the caretakers of educational and developmental objects. They choose the right shoes and what is good for spine development, the amount of color, light, and music.

To put it bluntly – these artists are parents.



2 years ago, my son was born. He took over my body, my thoughts, and my life. As we gradually and difficulty started to unravel and take on our new [separate?] lives as Mother and Child, I began to realize that I too, am now a curator ….or I need to be it more diligently. Take care of a non-working thyroid, find niches and time slots for what I want to do and what I dream about doing, rearrange living space to have a room [a hallway with a desk] of my own.



CURATORS came about at the most complicated time for me. It happened out of need to find new references and out of great happiness upon discovering a whole new world of artist who enjoy and cherish what they do in the most zealous way. The installations, drawings, paintings, embroideries, photographs, performances, texts, screenings and objects I included in this exhibition are all “naptime productions”, works that came into being as these artists were becoming parents. Most of these works were realized [or are yet to be] in a time crunch, on a kitchen desk, while not alone, in between laundry drop off and a daycare pick up. They speak of frustrations, self-doubt, confrontations with prejudices, and questions about the necessity and feasibility of making art. These works examine the myths of artists’ [mothers’] ability to create, to shape and sustain a narrative. Through the works in this show, you can detect a peculiar sardonic thread, an obvious fascination with all sorts of refuse, and a time anxiety similar to the one found with a certain white rabbit. Because these artists consciously set the highest of parentally expectations without even blinking, [that of raising socially responsible and at the same time happy human beings], you will also uncover a passionate and wild love we have for both family and work – the kind that is rooted in a profound and altruistic sense of humanity.