Coming in February, but Percolating Now...

So I've already gotten the prints of the photos I'm going to be exhibiting at my solo at Digging Pitt Too in February. This is a big deal because it requires a tedious trek into the suburbs, to a commercial zone that necessitates a set of byzantine maneuvers to negotiate. Plus I have to wait an hour for them to be printed, and that leads to spontaneous purchases at the nearby Half-Priced Books. The whole thing takes a couple of hours. And costs a substantial chunk of change. But it's done and I feel good about that, even though I should have probably spent the time and money getting a new set of badly-needed tires instead. It's so easy to procrastinate.

I'm happy about the results... although it's merely the completion of one phase of preparation in a long process. I've shown the work to the gallery owner, and he seems excited for the show. We have to iron out a lot of details about how to present the images. There are concerns about weight limits and framing, as well as the more complex aspect of layout. I've got about forty images to put on the walls. Then there are the various promotional concerns. Its common to produce hot cards that serve to announce the upcoming show. These have to be distributed around the city a month ahead of time. Because this is my first solo, I'll also be expected to construct an artist statement detailing my conception of the work. I've done this before... but because these images are particularly abstract, people will probably pay attention this time. The visual information will have to be accompanied by lucid exposition. And I hold myself to certain standards. I'd like to avoid a lot of the art school jargon that I so often encounter in these statements- which shouldn't be too difficult since I have no arts education. But it's a bit of a cop-out to simply say the work should speak for itself. Whatever I offer should accentuate and illuminate the work.

It's exciting to have this opportunity, but it raises the bar to a certain level. There are expectations that linger from my previous shows. These generally consisted of documentary or representational photography, and this exhibition will be wholly different. It's hard to say whether or not the folks who enjoyed my previous work will accept the new stuff. It might be to the tastes of an entirely different audience... and I don't know if that new audience will even see it. It's still months away, but I've got a lot to think about. Maybe it's presumptious to blog about it this early, but what the hell?