Grant (2 year old) is sleeping (mothering effects my social space practice and gallery-running as much as it does my other art-making practices). When I first approached the Pierogi Flatfile I was totally overwhelmed. Even by the third time I approached the File I was totally overwhelmed and really every time I walk into Pierogi I am totally overwhelmed. Thank god they serve vodka at their openings!
The file has 900 artists in it, maybe more. I had to come up with some sort of structure to review it. Mike (husband) entered all 900 names into a spreadsheet, then we determined that 88 artists was a representative sample, so he had a computer program select 88 artists randomly. With a list containing the 88 artists in hand, I went looking through the files and guess what? I was still overwhelmed. I sat immobilized for weeks as the opening date of Pocket Utopia approached. Finally, I selected 20 artists from the 88 randomly selected artists because that's the number of artists that Pierogi showed in their first show at Four Walls.
My process might seem random, but I think that's how the art world works. Funny, the computer didn't select my name. I've had work in the Flatfile for about 10 years. I always try to put new and my best work in, and maybe that's why the 20 artists I chose are consistently good. It took me awhile to figure out how to choose them and then how to contact them. I had to bully the staff a little when Joe wasn't around but finally I got in contact with everyone and am looking forward to meeting them.
When I told them about Pocket Utopia and asked them to participant in my first official show out in Bushwick they ALL said yes! And for that I am grateful for curating carefully and taking my time to look.
The image above is by Peggy Cyphers, Bio Brain
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