[In]Visible Labor

My friend Cindy Penter curated an exhibition, "Referential: Homage. Montage. Sabotage.," which opened last night at Asterisk Gallery http://www.asteriskgallery.com/in Tremont. Lots of amazing artists/work in the show of video installations, including pieces by my spouse and many of my feminist friends. My spouse, daughter, and I went to the gallery on Thursday night to drop off an artist statement and witnessed the chaos that typically accompanies the eve of an art opening. As a former curator, gallery director, and art museum worker, I know the feeling very well. Artworks still need to be installed and lit, title wall signage and labels need to be hung (often still need to be written), and then there's the occasional artist who shows up at the eleventh hour demanding the prime wall space that's already been assigned to someone whose work is exceptional, or who has been there for the past three nights volunteering their time patching and painting walls. In the midst of all of this, the gallerist knows that the bathroom still needs to be cleaned, the pre-cut, pre-washed carrots, humus, chip and salsa, not to mention the beer and wine, still need to be purchased for the next day's opening reception. It's exhausting. I am longer an art worker/gallerist and this is the kind of work and drama I don't miss.

Curators and gallerists (in small art venues like Asterisk) stay up all night making all of this happen and on opening day, hordes of people walk into a pristine space with art seamlessly hung on freshly painted walls. Well-designed signage greets them. Carefully written and edited artist statements are there to explain the work to them. Snacks and cheap or free drinks are there for the taking. The artists arrive and their work looks better than even they imagined under the lights, on the pedestals, and against the stark walls. The work it takes to put an exhibition together is invisible to everyone except to those who do it. Like parenting, it's often thankless labor.

While I don't miss this part of the art world, I do miss writing about art. I wrote art criticism for a number of years, primarily at the now defunct Free Times. During those years, I'd walk into a pristine space, pen and paper in hand, and evaluate the show and the work. I was good at what I did, yet, even though there were years where I was also gallery director at Lake Erie College (which meant I was the curator, art installer, publicist, and fundraiser), I sometimes took the invisible labor that goes along with mounting an art exhibition for granted when I donned the role of critic. Being at Asterisk the other night reminded me of this work and of the times that I, the "art critic," contributed to obscuring it.

For the times I forgot (or ignored) the fact of this labor, my apologies (Dana).

Next time you go to an art opening, thank the gallerist. Better yet, offer to serve the drinks or replenish the snack table so that s/he can have a beer... or a catnap.