Common Room

Curated by Björn Meyer-Ebrecht, June 2015


Eric Brown​, Sharon Butler​, Paul Gagner​, Jule Korneffel​, Esperanza Mayobre​, David McBride​, Adam Parker Smith​, and Jenny Vogel​

Common Room was an installation of a room within a room, which I built in my studio. The room had a raised platform as the floor and painted plywood walls. Within the room I presented a group show of works by eight artists. The initial idea of the show had been to bring in works that function as windows offering different types of views. Thus the shared space in the common room could be located either in front of or behind the work. The title Common Room described the actual confines of the location as a stage-like shared space. At the same time it referenced the shared intellectual, illusionistic or optical spaces these specific works create, linking them to a larger social room and context.

Common Room was the second installment of a series of curatorial projects in my studio. It follows Communal Table from 2014, in which I built an over-sized table that served as the shared base for sculptures by 12 artists. The installation of Common Room continued my interest in functional architectural objects, and represented the first time I had created a sculpture that functioned as usable space.

Artists’ biographies
→ Constructing Common Room, pictures


Installation shots


Common Room, 2015; installation views




Left to right:Common Room, 2015; installation view
Jenny Vogel,
The Art of Forgetting, 2014, video, 3-D Animation, 3 minutes
David Mcbride,
Saturn, 2015, oil on panel, 15 x 13 inches; Minotaur Study 1, 2015, oil on panel, 13 x 15 ½ inches
Sharon Butler,
Gas Grill, 2014, pigment, binder, pencil, unstretched canvas, 71 x 84 inches



Left to right:
Jenny Vogel,
The Art of Forgetting, 2014, video, 3-D Animation, 3 minutes
David Mcbride,
Saturn, 2015, oil on panel, 15 x 13 inches;
Minotaur Study 1, 2015, oil on panel, 13 x 15 ½ inches



David Mcbride,
Saturn, 2015, oil on panel, 15 x 13 inches;
Minotaur Study 1, 2015, oil on panel, 13 x 15 ½ inches



Left to right:
Adam Parker Smith,
Bouquet, 2015, resin, antique mirror, 31 x 38 inches
Jule Korneffel,
Leg Presentation, 2015, mixed media, 32 x 8 x 8 inches
Forground:
Esperanza Mayobre,
Everybody knows that cities are build to be destroyed (Version 21 – Common Room), 2015, foam Core, pins, tape, dimensions variable



Left to right:
Eric Brown
Top row: Beach House #34, 2014; Beach House #32, 2014; Beach House #31, 2014
Bottom row: San Salvador #19,, 2014; Beach House #18, 2014; Back Yard #14, 2014,
Inkjet and Flashe paint on paper, 11 x 8 ½ inches
Adam Parker Smith,
Bouquet, 2015, resin, antique mirror, 31 x 38 inches
Jule Korneffel,
Leg Presentation, 2015, mixed media, 32 x 8 x 8 inches



Left to right:
Eric Brown,
Top row: Beach House #34, 2014; Beach House #32, 2014; Beach House #31, 2014
Bottom row: San Salvador #19,, 2014; Beach House #18, 2014; Back Yard #14, 2014,
Inkjet and Flashe paint on paper, 11 x 8 ½ inches



Left to right:
Jule Korneffel,
Leg Presentation, 2015, mixed media, 32 x 8 x 8 inches



Left to right:
Paul Gagner,
Proper Care and Maintenance, 2014, oil on canvas,52 x 58 inches
Eric Brown,
Top row: Beach House #34, 2014; Beach House #32, 2014; Beach House #31, 2014
Bottom row: San Salvador #19,, 2014; Beach House #18, 2014; Back Yard #14, 2014,
Inkjet and Flashe paint on paper, 11 x 8 ½ inches
Adam Parker Smith,
Bouquet, 2015, resin, antique mirror, 31 x 38 inches



Paul Gagner,
Proper Care and Maintenance, 2014, oil on canvas,52 x 58 inches



Common Room, 2015; installation views