January Artwalk – “Is This What You Were Expecting?”

Join us for January Artwalk – “Is This What You Were Expecting?”

Saturday, January 13
6 – 9pm

Basin Arts is proud to present

The Emerging Artist Mentorship

“Is This What You Were Expecting?” is an interactive, collaborative exhibition made to question the dissonance between artist and gallery, exchanging authorship and the lived experience. This ambitious installation, guided by performance and choreography, will showcase the artistry of four Lafayette locals: Ben Guidry, Christopher Isaacs, Erin Gray, and Nicole Curtis.

Basin Arts is proud to announce the first exhibition of its new T.E.A.M. program. The Emerging Artists Mentorship program is focussed on offering guidance and mentorship to a selected group of emerging artists within the Lafayette community. Is This What You Were Expecting? opens on Saturday January 13th 6pm-9pm and will be part of Basin Arts Prospect 4 Satellite programming. The exhibition will feature a collaborative installation, multi-tiered performance, various paintings and other multimedia goodies from these young artists.

The T.E.A.M. is comprised of Nicole Curtis, Erin Gray, Benjamin Guidry and Christopher Isaacs. These artists are representative of a wide range of practices in Lafayette’s art community today. Nicole Curtis is a choreographer and dancer interested in the immersive qualities of performance and how these qualities may be used to enrich a viewer’s understanding of a given art form. Christopher Isaacs makes paintings steeped in and aware of its long history and from a studio practice centered on direct observation. Erin Gray is an artist that questions the formal qualities of paint, opening up suggestions of sculpture by making the viewer conscious of their own space and periphery. Benjamin Guidry is a multidisciplinary artist working in graphic line and sound who is interested in highlighting the unifying as well as the divisive characteristics found in contemporary society.

Is This What You Were Expecting? Centers itself on questions of dissonance between “the artist” and the conceptual framework of “the gallery.” The artists engage in an exchange of authorship through their own collaboration as well as offering to the audience a collaborative role in the making of the exhibit. In this work there is a sense of undercutting the controlled nature of the gallery in order to summon a gratifying and immersive experience. There will be a multi-phased performance within the show’s installation space, highlighting moments and works as well as providing guidance to viewers in how they may take part in the work. The artists of the T.E.A.M set a self-imposed goal of breaking the barriers and restrictions implied by traditional gallery etiquette and through this were adamant about creating a wondrous and enjoyable environment for viewers.