The timing for this exhibition couldn’t be more appropriate as a call to adopt another attitude towards all of our differences. The essence of Post-Identity requires fluidity between the categorical norms society uses and an open-mindedness. Using empathy to see each other without judgement or expectation is the new norm of our aesthetic standard.
To uncover the meaning of this complex term “post-identity,” we must first dive (however briefly) into its root term: identity. Although we all have personal identities that we claim or that are placed upon us, there are larger societal identities that exist in the politicized context.
Post-identity can be defined as: taking on a perspective without focusing on cultural difference, specifically in regard to race, gender, and sexuality. To apply “post-identity” to the art world would mean to look at art and the creators of art without focusing on race, gender, and sexuality.
n 2015 Arden Surdam graduated with her MFA from California Institute of the Arts and later received the Focus Photo L.A. award at Photo Basel. Arden was also a finalist for the Young California Photographer Award at Paris Photo. Her current focus as a photographer lies in creating a new and exciting medium by blending painting and sculpture with photography.
To me, it looks like Gay Ribisi delights in producing unusual photographs for public consumption. What I see in her puckish tableaux vivants is reality literally being submerge into an Arbus-like kaleidoscope of humanity. Ribisi’s works feature bizarre compositions, unorthodox subjects and are hard to pin down to one unifying label or easy interpretation. Trying to appropriate a post-identity filter, looking beyond race, gender, and sexuality, to interpret her work is challenging.
Andréanne Michon discovers the layers of ecosystems and unfolds them for the viewer. She accepts that evolution is inevitable and documents each moment as independent works of art. Her telluric narratives in photography allow the viewer to appreciate individual moments across evergreen plains. Her visual installations encourage a deeper study as the observer becomes a part of her terrestrial beauty.
In a glimpse Sandra Klein’s work evokes a curiosity either about her view of the world or her magical mindset. There is a map to her personal history in her art that shows a personal struggle and vulnerability that an audience can empathize with. Her works draw the observer into a creative narrative; real or imagined, a journey down the rabbit hole to search introspectively begins.
Sant Khalsa juxtaposes the vastness of landscape against our own complicated dense lives. She addresses outside space and if we fit enough of it into our lives. Khalsa illustrates that water equals life, growth, and humanity; yet her images often show the lack of actual people in the environment. Humanity is replaced by elementals. Boulders, shrubs and brooks become the centerfolds in her works.
Jo Ann Callis is a pioneer in photography. She began to use a camera in 1973 and was encouraged to continue during her studies at UCLA where in 1977 she completed her MFA in Photography. Not only talented, she is a refreshingly humble artist who is grateful for her long career. Labels such as fabricated, constructed, sexual and surrealist have been used to describe the result of her thoughtfully designed layouts and memorable photographs.
