Opening, June 22nd

Documentation of Currie's and Jensen's ehxhibition.

From left to right: Man's Ruin by Darryl Jensen, Reduction Point by Jamal Currie, and fragment of Resurrection by Jensen.


Reduction Point, Resurrection and Epiphany by Jensen.



“temporary contemporary” opens its doors on Friday, June 22nd, 6–-9 pm with a two person exhibition of JAMAL CURRIE (video/video installation) and DARRYL JENSEN (print). Currie’s and Jensen’s works with their cinematic references pay tribute to the primary function of the space the gallery is located in, now defunct (and soon to be restored) Avalon Theater. Their grainy, pixelated images also challenge our expectations of high-definition, operating on the level of bare recognizability. The viewer is put in a precarious situation in which despair and hope, repulsion and delight, danger and safety are separated only by a very fine line defined by limitations of our perception. Currie’s video installation Reduction Point reconfigures fragments of his previous video works (also on display) into a high-contrast low-resolution projection. This shimmering, ghostly piece plays with the basics of the medium and the notions of what is essential in order to perceive, while simultaneously creating a poetic sequence of images, in which dream and nightmare, fascinating and repulsive weave in and out of each other. Jensen’s brand new large-scale print installation Resurrection (6' x 12') utilizes a composite of movie stills to suggest a hopeful, perhaps romantic, encounter. It simultaneously contrasts with and provides a punctuation to his photo-lithographic diptychs which juxtapose stills of black and white B-movies in order to speak of entrapments and distresses of interpersonal relationships. Jensen’s pieces dialogue with one another to create a larger narrative of failures, hopes and redemptions we encounter as much on a movie screen as in our personal lives.

Darryl Jensen and Jamal Currie install the inaugural show.

Darryl Jensen, print media artist and master printer extra ordinaire and Jamal Currie, videographer and visual artist.

The neighborhood kids had a million questions.

Avalon Theater store front alive again!

Keith and I had an eye on this space for several months. The empty store front right on Kinnickinnic, a block away from our house, several blocks from the studio seemed a perfect spot for a gallery. Who could resist a location on the main artery and with such high visibility? Plus, the space itself is curious: on one hand it fulfills all the requirements of a white box, while at the same time is full of unexpected architectural details. It was unnerving to see it under-used. Finally, almost miraculously, we were able to contact Lee Barczak, the current owner of the Avalon. Believe it or not, as the result of our meeting we got the store front at 2469 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. to use until the renovation of the building starts.
The idea for the gallery was simple: to show as many great emerging artists as possible within the constrained amount of time. Hence, we devised a formula: a two-person exhibit every two weeks throughout the summer. Temporary contemporary is a dual play on words. Firstly, it speaks to the impermanence of the venue, secondly (if you haven't figured that out yourself yet) it also implies the very transient nature of contemporary art. We decided to invite first of all these artists who despite of having significant bodies of work that we admire has not shown at all or not in the long time. We chose to focus on the diverse artists whose work fits neither into traditional model supported by the city's established galleries nor into affordable, pop-ish mode championed by many younger venues.

Please, stop by and see what comes out of it!
The gallery is open on Fridays from 4 to 6 pm and 6 pm to 9 pm (on opening Fridays)
and every Saturday between 1 and 5 pm, or by appointment.