Exhibition · Thomas Park
Zentrified!
Jan 9 – Feb 10
About the show
Gail Fitzgerald, Al Freeman, Tom Friedman, Matt Hoyt, Carl Ostendarp, Nathaniel Robinson, Ah-Bin Shim, Christina Tenaglia, Alice Tippit, Alexi Worth
Curated by Ken Johnson
Zentrified! presents mind-teasing paintings and sculptures by 10 artists.
That is a curious title. Indeed. It suggests that something has been dramatically affected by Zen.
What is Zen? A way of life and thinking.
What’s the way? “An open-eyed man falling into the well.”
That is a puzzling definition. It’s not a definition; it’s a famous koan.
What is a koan? A saying, question or story, sometimes comical, which seems nonsensical to common sense but can provoke enlightenment in one who understands it. “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” is a well-known example.
Oh, yes, I know that one. So what is enlightenment? Liberation from the chains of conventional thinking.
That sounds like a good thing. Can a work of art be a koan? I don’t see why not. Maybe the works in this exhibition will enlighten us.
- Ken Johnson