{"id":89377,"date":"2014-02-12T09:35:19","date_gmt":"2014-02-12T14:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=89377"},"modified":"2014-02-18T08:58:18","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T13:58:18","slug":"marketing-as-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/02\/marketing-as-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing as Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An<\/a>
An exhibition at the Contemporary Art Galleries presents works by five artists that illustrate, engage, and challenge the visual language of commercialism. (Photo by Contemporary Art Galleries)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The shadow of philosopher and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan is cast long in the 21st century. He predicted the Internet three decades before it was invented; first presented the concept of the global village; and preached, \u201cThe medium is the message.\u201d He also in effect described marketing \u2013 which focuses on price, product, place, and promotion \u2013 as high art.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisplay: Marketing as Art,\u201d an exhibition at the Contemporary Art Galleries (CAG), provides a fresh look at these ideas through the work of five artists who utilize found objects in their works that illustrate, engage, and challenge the visual language of commercialism.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The gallery has an open, spacious feel, with mirrors and reflective glass, chrome, and glitter that recreate the atmosphere of high-end retail stores. (Photo by Contemporary Art Galleries)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Using fashionable product display materials such as chrome fixtures and shelving usually found in high-end retail stores, the five artists incorporate found objects such as rocks, old liquor bottles, plastic milk crates, and wood pieces, and combine them with artwork.<\/p>\n

The artists include Martin Basher of New Zealand, Gabriele Beveridge of London, Dike Blair whose studio is located in upstate New York, Josephine Meckseper of Germany, and Mika Tajima of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Barry Rosenberg, curator of CAG, says after seeing Meckseper\u2019s work on display in a New York City gallery he thought the use of found objects was taking hold in a different way than he had previously seen in contemporary art.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s all this chrome and glitter, like going into a high-end boutique or into Lord & Taylor,\u201d Rosenberg says. \u201cThe first thing you see is lots of mirrors and lots of reflection that\u2019s always there for jewelry and cosmetics with these found objects and the art.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curator has transformed the gallery into a more open space than in recent exhibitions, taking down partitions that previously divided the room and removing coverings that revealed the glass windows along the street-side of the gallery. Combined with the reflective glass and mirrors that make up parts of the exhibition, the gallery has a roomy, spacious feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to take advantage of the reflected image, recreating retail space,\u201d Rosenberg says. \u201cEach of them works individually but also together. The floor is painted red. It\u2019s all about high-end design and product.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'Paradise<\/a>
‘Paradise Sale,’ a work by Martin Basher of New Zealand, is a mixed media work that includes Plexiglas, aluminum, and fluorescent lights. Located outdoors, at night it reveals a painting of a sunset beach. (Photo by Contemporary Art Galleries)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two works by Basher were created for the exhibition, which is supported by Walbridge Capital and Kristi Ann Matus. \u201cParadise Sale\u201d is located outdoors and is a mixed media work that includes Plexiglas, aluminum, and fluorescent lights on a concrete base that at night reveals a painting of a saturated sunset beach. \u201cUntitled (Spiritual Marketplace 3)\u201d uses the illusion of hyper-masculinity through the use of men\u2019s hair and skin products, chrome, mirrors, wood, whiskey bottles, and free-weights to address commercialism.<\/p>\n

Two installations by Tajima, \u201cA Facility Based on Change II\u201d and \u201cA Facility Based on Change III,\u201d turn wall panels used for office cubicles into sculpture used as a mini-gallery for art by painting blue-gray canvas with primary colors with silk-screen prints hung from push pins.<\/p>\n

Meckseper uses slat boards as the canvas for hanging abstract paintings that could be plucked off the wall for purchase, along with chrome hanging bars and clothing hooks to comment on art as a commodity.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A work by Josephine Meckseper of Germany, with abstract paintings that are presented as if for purchase, together with chrome hanging bars, is a reflection on art as a commodity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beveridge works with a pegboard and chrome hooks to display a bleach blond wig, a crystal with glittering minerals, a wind chime, fake pearls, a framed magazine photo of a woman\u2019s face, and a photo-transfer of a beach scene to create \u201cPost-Exertion Visibility,\u201d which represents the cluster of advertising that is found everywhere.<\/p>\n

Blair\u2019s work \u201c(IN) Out\u201d combines painted art shipping crate, carpet, framed gouache on paper, and a Noguchi lamp to explore the possibility of different media.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisplay: Marketing as Art\u201d continues through April 14 at the Contemporary Art Galleries, 830 Bolton Road, Storrs. Hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. On April 14 there will be an artist\u2019s reception and a symposium on the show\u2019s theme that will include artists and members of the School of Business faculty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new exhibition at the Contemporary Art Galleries explores the visual language of commercialism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":89388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[55],"class_list":["post-89377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-15 09:47:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89377"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89392,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89377\/revisions\/89392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/89388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89377"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=89377"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}