In Delivery Systems, 16 artists from across the United States exhibited their work alongside the materials, mechanisms and collateral they used to ship that work to the gallery and plan their installation. All the artists live and work more than 100 miles from the Joseph Gross Gallery at the University of Arizona School of Art — with the farthest over 2,600 miles away.
The free exhibition opened Sept. 29 and was to run through Nov. 18, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m., at the gallery, 1031 N. Olive Road.
Delivery Systems references the structures, materials and methods an artist might utilize to transfer and display the artwork. Instructions, hardware and even packaging materials are crucial to the finished product. The application for Delivery Systems asked artists to consider how their work ultimately reaches the viewer and to explain the intentionality of their plans to support the curatorial process, while providing clear instruction to the students who would ultimately be installing their work.
Juried, installed, programmed, and interpreted by students in the Fall 2022 Gallery Management class, Delivery Systems was co-curated by Eli Blasko, preparator at the Arizona History Museum, and lydia see, curator and director of School of Art Galleries at the University of Arizona.
“Our class is an incubator for the exhibition, and the students have been thrown directly into all the complexities of bringing a show to life,” said see. “I’m so impressed with their willingness to dig in and learn the process as they’re doing it, and so thrilled with how the show is shaping up.”
Artists responded to the invitation by proposing works of varied materials, methods and concepts, with common themes including portability, intentional display and viewer experience, and for a few works, a bit of institutional critique:
“My work has historically been a challenge to install and ship, and as an artist that creates things with many pieces– I’ve had to learn how to make the installation less complicated so they can live on, in the positions needed without needing me to install. I am continually learning this and figuring it out. With each ship out I make changes to the boxes I create for them, and my instructions.” – Diana Jean Puglisi
“Transit was born out of a sense of not knowing. The space between the sending and reception of a package is a complex network of interactions. Human to human, human to machine, etc.” – Michael Lorsung
“This work questions what art shipped to shows is made of materially with existing shipping limitations… The 2D document outlining all materials that is NOT accepted while transiting within a crate of protection reverses the levels of transparency when interacting with a delivery system as well as the economy between shipping and art mediums.” – Jaquelee Chit Yu Chau
“I completed this work during my final semester [at a] low residency MFA program. Given the platform of a low residency program it prompted the need to create work that could travel well. … So, I created this piece as well as two others that utilized not only affordable materials, but materials that could bear the potential damages of traveling across the country in my car packed with my belongings stacked up on top of them.” – Dale Small
“This work is inherently about instructions and taking on shared labor. It pokes at the political nature of what it means to assemble as artists and “Do It Yourself” offering alternatives to our modern ideas of consumption and sustainability.” – Chalet Comellas
Exhibiting artists are:
Eric Charlton (he/him/his) Jackson, MS | ericdcharlton.com // @ric.charl
Jaquelee Chit Yu Chau (she/her) Athens, OH |wixsite.com/home-en/ // @jaqueleec
Chalet Comellas (she/her) Nashville, TN | chaletcomellas.com
Morgan Hale (she/her) Brooklyn, NY | morgan-hale.com // @m.h.a.l.e
Chantal Lesley (she/her) Cedar Park, TX | https://chantallesley.com/ // @chantallesley
Michael Lorsung (he/him) Muncie, IN | http://www.justanassembler.com
Joetta Maue (she/her) Somerville, MA | joettamaue.com // @joettamaue
Annie Narrigan (none) Brooklyn, NY | annie-narrigan.com // @paper.cutes
Julie Rae Powers (they/she) Brooklyn, NY | julieraepowers.com // @julieraepowers
Diana Jean Puglisi (she/her) Rutherford, NJ | dianapuglisi.com // @dianajpuglisi
Catherine Reinhart (she/her) Ames, IA | catherinereinhart.com // @catherine_reinhart_studio
Javier Robelo (he/him/his) Williamstown, MA | javierrobelo.com // @javierrrobelo
Dale Small (they/them) Wichita, KS | dalesmall.com // @dalesmall
Marisa Stratton (she/her) Arlington, VA | mariastratton.com // @marisareads
Lex Turnbull (they/them/theirs) Asheville, NC | lexturnbull.com // @hahahahahahastop
Emma Welty (she/they) Woodbury, CT | emmawelty.com // @emma_welty