Author: Layne Shaffer
It’s not every day that you get to do it all. It’s not every day that you get to work with twenty-four artists – all the passion and inspiration they inject into their work. And from here I realized the true depth of artists working in Pittsburgh. They’re underground, underappreciated, and extremely talented.
This summer I worked as a Summer Fellow with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh. Under the direction of Executive Director Madeline Gent, I was assigned as assistant curator and point of contact for new member artists in their 2024 New Member exhibition. What is a ‘new member’? Associated Artists of Pittsburgh represents over six hundred artists working in and around Pittsburgh – offering them support in their artistic practices and hosting exhibitions to do so. Membership is achieved through a juried process. Once members are accepted into the organization, they are invited to exhibit work in an annual new members show. This is where I come in.
Working alongside juror and assistant curator of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Alyssa Velazquez, works were selected for the show. I scoured through all material and context the artists provided (oftentimes taking an extremely deep dive into their websites and Instagram) to provide each artist and work with an engaging and encompassing wall label for the exhibit. I aided in the layout and curation of the show, asking myself these questions: how would the work of these twenty-four artists be best displayed? What themes are there, what contradictions are here? These are important questions for an exhibition that has no unifying “theme”. I aided in the installation of the show, assisting in artwork drop-off and point of contact for any questions artists had in the interim. I developed programming for the exhibition: a clay workshop with two wonderful ceramic artists – Juliet Phillips and Liz Wells and an artist talk with Jamie Kessler and James Louks who explore themes of American exceptionalism and its mythologization. Working with living artists has been the most fulfilling role I have had thus far.
My favorite curatorial decision I made for the show is as follows.
On opposing walls facing one another is Possible Skies and the Weight of Realpolitik, 2024 by Jamie Walters Kessler and Rift, 2022 by Michael Begenyi. Possible Skies consists of acrylic panels with alternating mirrored glass panels. Each acrylic panel is painted with a sunset or sunrise. A symbol of the ending of a day or the start of a new one, Kessler sourced these scenes from news broadcasts on CNN and NPR of ecological disasters. The alternating mirrored panels force the viewer to confront the role of the individual in scenes of war. It is unavoidable, as is the duty and relationship that every human has to world crises. Opposing this work is Rift, a monumental abstract acrylic painting. Begenyi often incorporates math, science, and geometry into his work. Here, Begenyi explores geometric repetition inspired by images of TV static that he had taped in his studio. Rift explores the human tendency to notice patterns, anomalies, and repetition. When the viewer stands between these two works, Rift is seen reflected in the mirrored panels of Possible Skies. The viewer turns, and these beautiful sunsets are replaced by static. Wars begin, war end, disaster happens, lives are lost. The beautiful skies are lost – the TV cuts to static, the broadcast has ended.
Layne Shaffer was a 2024 Summer Fellow at the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, generously supported by Jay Miller.
Image: Layne standing in front of Jamie Kessler, Possible Skies and the Weight of Realpolitik, 2024 holding flowers gifted to her by the artist