Paideia: Objects in Motion

Detail of The Shallows (2012) by Korin Faught

I had the opportunity to visit the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, where the current exhibit is a group show, "Motion: The Art of Movement", which runs until June 30. This blog has featured many of the artists on display in this show, including Eric Joyner, Korin Faught, Ray Caesar, and Sylvia Ji. So, it was a pleasure to see new works from them.

Although I definitely enjoyed the show, I can't say that the theme of "movement" was compellingly explored. Certainly, in some works, there was some sort of obvious physical motion, a rocket ship zooming through space or the wind blowing through the subject's hair. In other works, the movement was psychological, represented by multiple figures or ghostly trailing images. And then there were works that featured compositional techniques that put the eye into a sense of motion, with radiating lines of color or stretched and distorted figures.

Detail of Cold Spell by Billy Norrby

For certain, each piece contained motion, be it physical, psychological, or technical. My question regards premise; is the movement central or incidental to the composition? For me, in too many pieces, the work contained, but was not about, motion.

But that doesn't mean it was a weak show, not by any means. The art was every bit as awesome as I've come to expect at Corey Helford's. Although the ostensible theme is not very compelling, I highly recommend this exhibit; the individual works are strong.