Morality Cafe Press Release
This show will focus on individual ethical decision making processes. We
are daily faced with the task of making numerous moral judgments on a multitude
of issues, the consequences of which can be lasting and indelible or inconsequential;
yet, regardless of the impact such decisions may have on our lives, they
are telling signs of an individual's moral make-up. This exhibition will
explore how we define, construct and put into action a personal code of
ethics. Nietzsche said each individual alone establishes ethical guidelines
to live by, which may account for the "skeleton in the closet"
that we all invariably possess.
Our society is wracked by moral shortcomings apparent in scandals such as
savings and loan officers (and their lawyers and accountants) that dealt
one to the public while retaining three for themselves; congressional check
kiting and over drafting folly; the overweening Wall-Streeters of the late
eighties; international money Laundromats; a politician that claimed to
do drugs without ingesting them; sexual harassment and rape involving public
figures and others (and a certain medical student) that were selectively
hard of hearing when it came to the word "no"; kids that pull
guns instead of punches; and a hotel queen that advertised her business
acumen yet could not determine if her bras were a legitimate deduction.
In the art world, a materially successful participant is looked upon as
suspect, as somehow having sacrificed integrity; artistic or otherwise,
in order to get ahead. Can success only be had by bowing to commercial considerations
and compromise? Can one advance without engaging formulas or being cowed
by pressure to conform, in economically difficult times? This show will
address, through video art, painting and sculpture, the various moral implications
of the questions posed above, as well as attempt to depict through diverse
works of art ethical systems of behavior.
The artists featured in "Morality Cafe" are: Jeff Brown, Robert
Chambers, Devon Dikeou, Spencer
Finch, Beth Haggart, Rachel
Harrison, Jonathan Horowitz, John LeKay, Christian
Schumann and Maura Sheehan.
A cafe will be set up in the gallery to promote a social atmosphere within
the space, and performances and readings will be scheduled throughout the
show.
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