Douglas Witmer
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Monday, October 09, 2006
suitcase exhibition views
Suitcase exhibition, installed at Bus-Dori, Tokyo, Japan. October 8, 2006. In this image you can see works by (L-R) Joseph Hughes, Lynne Harlow, Akiko Tomikawa, Christopher Brown (above), Chris Ashley (below)
In this image moving left to right, top to bottom, you can see the work of Christopher Brown (uncertain on this one), John Zurier, Paige Williams, Nina Hubbs Zurier, myself, Georg Wirsching, Johannes Veit, Richard Schur, George Lawson, Marie Van Elder, Mel Prest, and another work by Christopher Brown.
These views (as is the case with photos on the internet) obviously do no justice, and perhaps a little injustice to the work being shown. But what it does document is a very rewarding collaboration that culminated this past weekend at Brent Hallard's "Bus-Dori" studio/gallery in Tokyo. What surprises me is, at a mere 20 x 16 inches, how effing HUGE my piece looks. (If any of the other participants in the exhibition are reading this post, please know I didn't try to overpower your work!)
"Suitcase" was the result of various friendships that formed across the continents over the past few years, mostly via internet. It was further enabled by the fact that a core of the group happened to be in the same place at the same time in September. Richard Schur came up with the idea of taking small works with him in his suitcase flying from California to Japan, and Brent Hallard offered his space and connections as a venue for an exhibition. There may be future incarnations of the show in other locations.
The exhibition is fully catalogued on-line (click here to jump to it, you can see better images of all the work), with essays by Brent Hallard, and Oakland-based artist George Lawson.
My thanks to Richard Schur and Brent Hallard for all the effort they put into this, as well as to Chris Ashley for coordinating the packing of the work, and George Lawson for a great essay.
9.10.06 
2 Comments:
Hi douglas,
What an interesting concept for a show. I am curious about your ideas about art having an ideal of beauty. It was interesting to see that only two people in the show mentioned anything about their work having anything to do with beauty.
richard
By 
richard kooyman, at
10/10/2006
Hi Richard--
I hope to respond to this soon.
By Douglas Witmer, at
10/11/2006