Christopher Gray
Providence, RI video/performance/ sculpture
This Yellow Object (video still), 2004-06, enamel on wood, performance, and video, dimensions variable, video duration 24 minutes, Lent by the Artist
Christopher Gray looks at the performative aspect of inanimate objects. A sculptor with a previous career in improv and acting, Gray is interested in perception and the theatrical quality of art. His work combines video, performance, 3-dimensional objects, and large doses of humor to investigate the experience of looking.
"The practice of improvisation is pivotal to my use of performance. Beyond a crucial spontaneity of process, improvisation prioritizes engaged listening and observation over innovation or invention. Put simply, 'making it up as you go' requires and rewards paying attention. As such, my pieces most often start with a response to, observation of, or playful interaction with some object or behavior that is ordinary or obvious. The process of making a piece then becomes one of stripping away assumptions and finding some sort of transforming action that opens up an inner life for, or unexpected view through the initial object or behavior. I am not interested in cultivating meaning or providing an intended or privileged reading for the viewer. I seek instead an art that is very and deceptively funny and shares with the viewer a heightened predicament of the everyday." —Christopher Gray
Please join the artist for a Gallery Talk on Saturday, May 13, 2006, at 3 pm.
