Featured Review: Time Well Spent

Time Well Spent As curator Tom Reed states in his exhibition preface, the focus of this show is on the time spent creating the artwork on view rather than the work itself. In organizing collaborations between five St. Louis-based artists (Lisa Bulawski, Cameron Fuller, Steve Kelly, Belinda Lee, Amy Thompson) and five students from St. Louis-area schools (Amity Faith Herrera, Charlotte Reed, Jacob Torres, Lauren Fields, Celeste Gardner), Reed dismantles the traditional curatorial procedures of using art to evidence an idea, survey a career or exemplify a trend; instead, he uses the exhibit as a motive to coordinate a suite of new experiences. The result of these collaborations — small hand-bound books of poetry, a paper-clip-and-mop-head fort hidden under hand-painted stars, a mural of the universe exploding with telephones and remote controls — compel a viewing experience akin to perusing a fresh set of snapshots, wherein memory is weighed against fact, and further the idea that art is the steward of discovery and process rather than merely a means to an end product. Through July 19 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Boulvard; 314-863-6932 or www.art-stl.com. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri, Noon-5 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

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