Whenever you have 404 artists submitting a total of 972 works of art to adorn the walls of the Lawndale Art Center, the realities of time and space dictate that somebody's gonna get left out. This year the Lawndale staff chose Larissa Harris, a curator from Queens Museum of Art, to make the hard choices. She selected 121 pieces of art from 73 artists. The rest got rejected.
For the second year in a row, Emily Sloan decided to turn rejection into redemption and hosted the second Salon des Refusés. She invited artists who didn't make Lawndale's The Big Show 2011 to turn defeat into defiance and exhibit in her Salon des Refusés 2011 show at M2 Gallery. As the curator of the show, Emily was not that picky. The only criteria she imposed was that artists had to provide a rejection slip from The Big Show.
Here are few rejections that I'd cover my walls with. (The photos of the work are worse than usual because of the lighting. Apparently, rejection is easier to take when experienced in romantic lighting.)
Taking on Big Oil in Houston may be a Big No.
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| Fresh Seafood with Black Chunky Sauce (detail) Lim Chung Acrylic on canvas |
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| Gopher Kim K. Mixed media |
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| Remember Me Reema Houwari Oil on canvas |
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| Alligator Chris Lyerly Mixed media |
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| Night @ Pine Ridge (detail) Jane B. Honovich Acrylic / mixed media |
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Flowers (Blue, Gold) with Frame Sondra Chambers Acrylic polymer, paper on clayboard |
Don't you just hate it when you're spending a little quality time in the forest wearing only your birthday suit and armed with your favorite chainsaw and some one asks if s/he can sketch you in crayon?
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| Impel the Spirit to Build (detail) Kevin Cromwell Crayon on paper |
Why don't all cars have this as a color package option?
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| Untitled Marty Arredondo Automobile paint, metal |
The ultimate home theater love seat.
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| Video Couch Stephanie Saint Sanchez VHS cassettes |
I'm a sucker for both stained glass and black and yellow.
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| Flores VI from the series, Fragmentation (detail) Wayne Ward Acrylic on canvas |
I'm guessing the curator had the same experience I did. Poured her beer in the bowl and then saw her soulmate when she tried to suck it up before it all drained out.
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| Untitled Sarah Whatley Digital print, wire |
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| Heavens Demetre P. Grivas Digital print |
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| Her Saralene Tapley Acrylic on canvas |
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| Men Smear George Bibb Acrylic on canvas |
It bears noting that although Emily Sloan provided a venue of redemption for those rejected, even though she herself was not. The Big Show includes her video work, Don't Tell My Parents.
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