In collaboration with Jeff Bliumis
Thank You Paintings Exchange, 2014-2015,
Series of 15 paintings: canvas, acrylic, epoxy, documentation: graphite, paper, c-print, bread, rose tea, money and foam roller, Dimensions variable
Thank You Paintings Exchange initiates a series of material, social, gestural, intellectual and monetary exchanges between artist and collector.
The series of fifteen paintings depict scenes of everyday life: a woman sitting on a deserted beach, children playing, cars parked in front of a suburban home, etc. Each painting has the text, “Thank You For Your...” painted on it, completed with words such as “Email,” “Poem,” “Kiss,” “Prayers,” “Dance,” “Pants,” “Thoughts.”
Sometimes a viewer might detect a relationship between the text and the subject of the painting, but there is no deliberate, direct relationship. The
painting points toward the value of the painting as an artwork, while the text points toward the exchange the artists propose to initiate with the collector.
In order to acquire a painting, collector participated in the exchange the artists have proposed, giving the artists the object, gesture, concept, etc. for which the painting thanks them, in addition to making a flat $1,000 financial transaction. The interactions between artists and buyers were documented. The actions and objects requested by the artists were creatively interpreted by the collector.