Show Space

I'm blogging my press release tonight at 526 w. 26th Street, in the little closet. Soon to be in Santa Barbara, for
Austin Thomas, A-Framed Social Space at the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum

November 11, 2006-January 7, 2007

This November, Santa Barbra Contemporary Arts Forum (CAF) will presentthe third installment of the Salon project series—Austin Thomas, A-Framed Social Space. Over the past several years Thomas has created architectural structures specifically suited for gathering and interaction. Called "perches,” these sites are functional and artful spaces set-off from the everyday. For Salon, Thomas will transform CAF’s Norton gallery into an A-frame vacation home, complete with screen door and parlor. In this new perch, the artist will hold host a series of free public events—origami classes, book readings, storytelling, potlucks and more. Daily tea will also be served at 3PM to gallery visitors. When Thomas is not there to play hostess, visitors can enjoy and relax within this indoor retreat space.

Austin Thomas’ perches include people and place as an integral aspect and are not complete until they draw people into them. Rather than functioning as static objects or sculptural displays, Thomas understands the perches as event pieces that galvanize people. For A-Framed Social Space, Thomas promotes contemplation and interaction of all kinds, and offers a new point of view from which to take in one’s surroundings. From the perspective of Thomas’s perch, CAF is re-imagined as a place for observation, contemplation and consumption.

This is the third exhibition in the series of artist projects entitled Salon. Begun in April 2006, Salon artists transform CAF’s Norton Gallery into a moveable feast of programs, interventions, and opportunities for public engagement, as it launches a new series of artist projects entitled Salon. Artists are invited to create participatory work that blurs the boundaries between gallery, visitor, and artist. CAF has asked artists to address the tradition, begun in the living rooms of the 18th Century French women, to employ the interaction of a diverse group of literary, artistic and cultural figures to foster an open, transitory, and discursive space.

Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum is non-profit, non-collecting alternative art space dedicated to the exhibition, education, and cultivation of the arts of our time. Celebrating its 30th Anniversary in 2006-2007, CAF is the premier venue for contemporary art between Los Angeles and San Francisco, presenting 15-18 exhibitions annually. A-Framed Social Space reflects our mission to sustain and encourage contemporary art and artists ensuring that creative expression and appreciation flourishes in and beyond our community.