EXHIBITION: Bag Show @ But, Also
Jon has been invited to participate in But, Also’s newest curatorial project: Bag Show!
but, also is pleased to present our second project of 2021, Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational. In keeping with our mission to create opportunities for artists to produce merchandise out of their primary art practices, Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational is just that, artist crafted bags in limited editions of 10 by eleven DMV-based artists. Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational will be on view and on sale from April 3- May 1, 2021 at but, also’s temporary space at 3015b Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 and online at but-also.com till June 30, 2021.
In keeping with but, also’s vision to explore the intersection of exhibition and storefront, Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational unifies separate artistic visions to create a site specific installation reminiscent of a department store window display. Uniformity of the form and the individualism of each limited edition bag are equally emphasized. The installation will evolve over the course of the exhibition as bags are sold directly from the display. Cast concrete hands protrude from the walls and ceilings, holding the handles of totes, and in some cases holding each other. The hands gesture towards the intimacy of the artists’ hand in the making of the bags and the future interaction between the consumer and the object. On the floor of the space, astroturf represents a “vast” expanse of grass where the tote bags lounge in states of repose, as you might be with them, in a park.
Bag Show: A Tote Bag Invitational asks you to consider the intersection of design, art object, promotional merch and fashion. Tote bags and the arts have a long history together. It is a distributable vehicle for art and information, that also serves the simple functional purpose: to carry. Totes engage your sense of style, what you care about, and can open social dialogue. The eleven participating artists were given ten blank tote bags and given free rein as long as functionality remained at the forefront. Through dying, tearing, sewing, screen printing, painting, digitally printing, laser cutting and drawing they created unique editions that rise above the expectations of a tote bag. These are bags you take to the museum with your single Moleskine notebook and a granola bar. Bags you want to be seen about town with. Bags that will help strike up conversation on the metro. Bags that carry that book you’ve been bringing around everywhere you go for months to seem erudite but have yet to start reading.
