A woman with a baguette. Another one.
(An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.)

Carmel Buckley | Rick Fleming | Michelle Grabner | Kelly Kaczynski |
Maddie May | Shonna Pryor | Jisoo You | Ryan Z


September 4 – October 30, 2022

Opening reception: Sunday, September 4, 3–6pm.



Following the opening, gallery hours are available by appointment only.

Please contact thewaves@ruschwoman.blue to make arrangements
to visit RUSCHWOMAN during the run of the exhibition.


Shonna Pryor, "...just the craziest fucking thing I...", 2019
Reclaimed dinner tablecloth, wood, metal, acrylic paint, 60h x 48w in.
Detail View


There has been in recent years a revival of a political shorthand that “representation matters.” But does it? And in what way? Taking each word on its own and then in combination, a proliferation of possible implications flood into the gaps where the sentiment has yet to justify itself. Did presentation matter before this, or is it only in the re-presentation of a given concept that it accrues importance or value? Is the degree to which representation comes to matter one that accounts for basic survival, for legislated rights, for economic and class mobility, for the means to thrive in excess? Is the representation done on behalf of a larger special interest group or ideology? Onto what may that responsibility—metonymic, ambassadorial—be bestowed? Often asserted in the context of visual and popular cultures, but so too levied at a need for the individuals who comprise governments to serve as an equitable reflection of the makeup of those governed, it may be that the act of representing is the means by which matter, that is the material conditions and realities of a given situation, come to take on form, weight, and a commensurate degree of significance.

In other words, when a representation matters, it is an object, contested within a field of play by an array of the subject/ed. Common parlance uses the word ‘object’ to denote a nonhuman, inanimate thing: a kitchen table, a basket, a soda can, for instance. Yet when psycho-analysts say ‘object,’ they mean the foiling, complicated counterpart to subjects (a subject being one who acts upon the world around him, extending himself from interior consciousness into his surroundings). The demarcations of subjects’ relationships to objects is not simple, and yet power has a history of being produced coextensively with the positions of subjects, favoring them at the expense and disenfranchisement of his related objects. This text and the exhibition which it accompanies doesn’t easily distinguish between these uses of ‘object’; instead a curiosity propels both toward how artists as object-makers might intervene into these power relationships and redefine how an object is understood.

But to approach a working provisional apprehension of objects per se, one invariably lands at a troubling if not also thrilling intersection—a crisis between what we call objects and what we call images. Herein lies a further complication in what is intended through the assertion of representation mattering. Treacherous things, images; and perhaps even more so when an object is re-presented as an image of sorts, that is, when an object serves as a representative on behalf of. The disenfranchised object (that is, any object that is not a subject) possesses intriguing capacities for stubbornness, reticence, and refusal—a kind of material opacity that pressures any projected capacity for the object to mean or signal anything beyond its own physical traits. And yet, when placed within a matter that starts with representation, the relative (contingent) ease by which an object may act as a device of subterfuge, drag, camouflage, and misdirection comes into focus.

It’s within this borderspace between the potential of objects and images that RUSCHWOMAN proudly presents A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.) The artists and works comprising this group exhibition aim to underscore the mercenary veracity with which objects act in the world, testing the tensions by which matter is tethered to thought, belief, memory, and power. The title of the exhibition brings together one of Georges Perec’s observations in An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris (the Marc Lowenthal translation, issued by Wakefield Press in 2010) with a paraphrased passage of Hito Steyerl’s 2012 essay “A Thing Like You and Me,” infused with vaguely Lacanian sentiments. Variously solaced and whimsical, sober and impassioned, an array of objects and photo-based artworks arranges itself within RUSCHWOMAN as a field of play.


Maddie May, tucked away, 2021
Hamper, felt blanket, hand woven cotton, audio, 40h x 30w x 12d in.
Detail View; photograph by Eugene Tang


ARTIST BIOS

Carmel Buckley, born in Derby, Full Professor, Department of Art, The Ohio State University, received a Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture from Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic (United Kingdom) in 1978, and a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the School of Visual Arts, New York as a Fulbright Fellow, with additional study at the Escuela de Bellas Artes of Madrid University from 1979-80 and, with a Mexican Government Scholarship, at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts in Mexico City from 1983-84. She has been the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Art Sculpture Award and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Award. In 1994 she had a solo exhibition at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio. Recent solo exhibitions include The Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio (2009), Clay Street Press, Cincinnati (2011), The Center for Recent Drawing, London, England (2012) and Clay Street Press, Cincinnati (2022). She had two-person shows at the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE, (2014); Clay Street Press, Cincinnati, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, London, England (2016-17); and completed public art projects “Cloud’s Gold” & “Inhuman Colors,” Camp Washington, Cincinnati (2020); community project, Wave Pool Gallery, Camp Washington, Cincinnati (2022). Group shows include Gallery North, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England (2005); Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati (2006); E:vent Gallery, London, England (2009); “Sculpture Key West” at Key West, Florida (2011); “Plastiline” at Fluc, Vienna, Austria; “Women to Watch” at the Riffe Gallery, Columbus (2018); Columbus Museum of Art, (2018); Anytime Dept., Cincinnati (2019); “A A TO T V (CLADINORO)” at No Place Gallery, London, England (2022); “Plate, Ink, Paper, Press” at Off Ludlow Gallery, Cincinnati (2022). Collections include the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Cleveland Museum of Art; Krannert Art Museum, Champagne, IL; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Arkansas Arts Museum; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

Rick Fleming, born 1969, lives and works in Austin, Texas. An accomplished portrait artist, drummer, and former bodybuilder, Rick is equally adept in drawing and painting. With his signature humor and standout line work, he uses images and text to capture the essence of his subjects. Rick draws inspiration from pop culture, especially classic rock, movies from the eighties and nineties, and WWE wrestling. Rick has been a studio artist at SAGE Studioin Austin since its inception in January 2017. His work is in private collections across the country and has been presented at New York City’s Outsider Art Fair, the premiere art fair in the world for self-taught artists. In 2020, Rick was personally commissioned by Joe Biden to draw a portrait of the President to be reproduced as an official Biden tote bag.

Michelle Grabner, born 1962 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, is an artist, writer, and curator based in Wisconsin. She is the Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she has taught since 1996. Grabner received a BFA in 1984 and an MA in art history in 1987 from the University of WIsconsin-Milwaukee. She received an MFA from Northwestern University in 1990. Grabner’s work is held in many international collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; DaimlerChrysler Collection, Berlin; Musée d’art moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, among others. She has exhibited broadly both nationally and internationally. Grabner co-curated the 2014 Whitney Museum Biennial, and curated the 2016 Portland Biennial. She was the Artistic Director for the inaugural exhibition, FRONT International, the 2018 Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art. In 2019, she was named a National Academy of Design’s Academician, a lifetime honor. In 2021, Grabner was named a Guggenheim Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Kelly Kaczynski is a Chicago based artist working within the language of sculpture. Selected exhibitions include Julius Caesar, IL; Tiger Strikes Asteroid, IL; Peregrine Program, IL; Songs for Presidents, NY; Ortega y Gasset Projects, NY; Soap Factory, MN; Comfort Station, IL; Gahlberg Gallery, IL; threewalls, IL; Hyde Park Art Center, IL; University at Buffalo Art Gallery, NY; Triple Candie, NY. Curatorial collaborations include the cooperative endeavor Working Group for Unmaking: Living Within the Play, Poor Farm, Wisconsin, 2019-ongoing; Manatee at Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Illinois, 2018; the 2014 exhibition, Roving Room, Georgia. Independent curation includes Virtually Physically Speaking at Columbia College, Chicago, IL and the 2011 exhibition Mouthing (a sentient limb) at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL. Kaczynski is a recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award ’15; Artadia, Chicago ’08; Visible Republic, Boston, ’00. Kaczynski received an MFA from Bard College, NY and BA from The Evergreen State College, WA. They are Professor, Adjunct with the School of the Art Institute, Chicago.

Maddie May is an interdisciplinary artist in Chicago, IL. Her work personifies everyday objects which evaluate intimacy, domesticity, turbulent histories, and discomfort through uncanny materials and soft visual optics. May’s process involves conducting deep listening sessions with items and spaces to understand the stories they tell about the people that use them. Through sculpture, scent, fiber, print, and sound, forms are disrupted and redirected to create narratives about their emotional quality and history. Interested in how grief, exhaustion, and fear are situated in terms of Midwestern class and socioeconomic status, her objects embody the traumas that are ingrained in those who experience these circumstances. May holds an MFA degree in Printmedia from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2022), and a BFA Degree in Printmaking from Kendall College of Art and Design (2016). She has held several visiting artist and artist residency positions, and her work has been exhibited frequently throughout the US.

Shonna Pryor is a conceptual artist, art programs producer, and an educator at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her interdisciplinary art practice is inspired by references to food theory and its peripheral objects and concepts as a sociocultural lens to examine the politics of identity, memory, power, and play. Afrofuturist-based aesthetics are apparent in the visual language of these expressions, with preference towards reclaimed materials that shape shift while simultaneously contributing their own unique histories in concert with her contemporary/futurist interpretation. Pryor's work has been exhibited in major cities such as Chicago, Detroit and New York, with esteemed artist residencies at Hyde Park Art Center; High Concept Labs; and Chicago Council on Science and Technology, respectively. Her community engagement and outreach collaborations with established organizations and institutions have been instrumental in employing visual art to encourage young people towards S.T.E.A.M. futures, as applied to a just and equitable society.

Jisoo You, born 1999, is currently based in Chicago. She was born in Seoul and raised in Vancouver. She received her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2022. She has previously exhibited at Villa Hamilton in Seoul.

Ryan Z is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily with fiber, ceramics, found objects, popular and pornographic imageries. She is currently in the BFA program at The School of Art Institute of Chicago. She often combines knitted or crocheted soft yarn pieces with sharp or heavy objects as she is interested in the tension and power play between these two types of materials under gravity. She is also invested in guttural human reactions, such as disgust, horror, laughter, and arousal, because of their ability to bypass rationality and allow the orgasmic discharge of the unconscious. Her works were shown in New Work and Allure of the Abject at SITE Gallery.




A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Ryan Z, Jiggle Physics, 2022, Screen print on paper, quilter's thread, and breeze, Dimensions Variable

Ryan Z, Jiggle Physics, 2022, Detail View

Jisoo You, Ck1: Nana, 2022, Inkjet on satin, acrylic, and frame clips, 28h x 22w in.

Jisoo You, Untitled, 2022, Oil on wood, 10 5/8h x 8 5/8w in.

Jisoo You, Sonata, 2022, Inkjet on satin paper, 8h x 10w in.

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Michelle Grabner, Untitled, 2012, Archival inkjet print in artist frame, 12h x 18w in.

Michelle Grabner, Untitled, 2012, Archival inkjet print in artist frame, 13 1/4h x 16w in.

Michelle Grabner, Untitled, 2012, Archival inkjet print in artist frame, 13 1/4h x 15 3/4w in.

Michelle Grabner, Untitled, 2012, Archival inkjet print in artist frame, 13 1/4h x 16w in.

Michelle Grabner, Untitled, 2012, Archival inkjet print in artist frame, 13 3/4h x 15 3/8w in.

Michelle Grabner, Untitled, 2012, Archival inkjet print in artist frame, 11 3/4h x 18 3/4w in.

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Shonna Pryor, "...just the craziest fucking thing I...", 2019, Reclaimed dinner tabletcloth, wood, metal, and acrylic paint, 60h x 48w in.

Shonna Pryor, "...just the craziest fucking thing I...", 2019, Detail View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Rick Fleming, Diet Coke, 2019, Acrylic on cardboard, 5h x 3 1/2w x 3 1/2d in.

Rick Fleming, Diet Coke, 2019, Alternate View

Rick Fleming, Sno Caps and Kit Kat, 2019, Acrylic on wood, 3 1/2h x 7 1/2w x 1d in. (each)

Maddie May, tucked away, 2021, Hamper, felt blanket, hand-woven cotton, with audio, 40h x 30w x 12d in.

Maddie May, tucked away, 2021, Detail View

Maddie May, tucked away, 2021, Detail View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Kelly Kaczynski, This Knot, This (no. 4, 22, 13, 17, 23) with Green Screen (near) and Green Screen (far), 2014-2018, Digital print, 9h x 12w in. (each)

Kelly Kaczynski, This Knot, This no. 4 and Green Screen (near), 2014-2018, Digital print, 9h x 12w in. (each)

Kelly Kaczynski, This Knot, This (no. 13, 23) and Green Screen (far), 2014-2018, Digital print, 9h x 12w in. (each)

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Rick Fleming, Bit o' Honey, 2019, Acrylic on wood, 3 1/2h x 7 1/2w x 1d in.

Ryan Z, Jar, 2022, Recycled glass jar, inkjet print on mylar, pistachio shells, and wood glue, 5h x 3 1/2w x 3 1/2d in.

A woman with a baguette. Another one. (An object that was lost upon your entry into language is visible in its bruising.), Installation View

Ryan Z, Do You Dream About Me?, 2022, Fleece, Ace Hardware metal door guard, ink, latex glove, thread, buttons, and trash, 35h x 24w x 15d in.

Carmel Buckley, The Stuff of Substance, 2005, Mixed media sculpture, 13h x 54w x 48d in.

Carmel Buckley, The Stuff of Substance, 2005, Detail View

Carmel Buckley, The Stuff of Substance, 2005, Detail View

Carmel Buckley, The Stuff of Substance, 2005, Detail View

Carmel Buckley, Untitled, 2009, Found objects (wooden baskets), and paper, 14h x 19w x 19d in.

Carmel Buckley, Untitled, 2009, Detail View

Carmel Buckley, Untitled, 2009, Detail View