Salad Days: Second Course

July 12 - August 4, 2006 | Artists Space, New York

Artists:

Ronnie Bass, Carla Edwards, Mauricio Guillen, Kosuke Ikeda, Lara Kohl, Philip Maysles, Mamiko Otsubo, Fay Ray, Ania Soliman, Chris Taylor, Amy Westpfahl

Curators:

Stacey Allan, Yaelle Amir, Tairone Bastien, Naomi Beckwith, Anna Gray, Matthew Lusk, Anthony Marcellini, Courtney J. Martin, Amie Scally, Elisabeth Schneider, Shinya Watanabe, Hillary Wiedemann

Overview:

Ten emerging curators were invited to each selected one artist, continuing the biannual tradition of the Salad Days exhibition. The curators met several times to address conceptual and organizational aspects of the show. Each brought to the table unique perspectives and experience, which are reflected in their choice of artists. The result is an exhibition that showcases an exciting group of emerging artists and offers them the opportunity to present their work to a broad audience. Amy Westpfahl was selected by Yaelle Amir.

About the Exhibition:

A person's "salad days" are the days of youth, when he or she is "green" (without experience), but fresh and hopeful.… the important connotation of the phrase is the sense of crisp, fresh youth, tossed with abandon and topped with the tangy vinaigrette of boundless optimism.

- "The Word Detective," Evan Morris, 1998

In 2004, Artists Space Associate Curator Letha Wilson and then Program Coordinator (now Associate Curator) Jennifer Moon organized the first Salad Days exhibition with the intention to present the work of twelve emerging artists selected by twelve emerging curators, all at a particular moment in their artistic career described as their "salad days."

This year, the 2004 curators were each asked to select one new emerging curator. Organized by Hillary Wiedemann, Gallery Manager, with the guidance Jennifer Moon, these new curators each selected one artist, beginning the biannual tradition of the Salad Days exhibition. The curators met several times to address conceptual and organizational aspects of the show. Each bring to the table unique perspectives and experience, which are reflected in their choice of artists. The end result is an exhibition that showcases an exciting group of emerging artists and offers them the opportunity to present their work to a broad audience.

Amy Westpfahl's project for Salad Days: Second Course:
The Letchworth Village Project: The lack or inaccessibility of information on the Letchworth Village for the Mentally retarded makes its memory somewhat of a mystery. What is left of the village is a 600 acre abandoned campus and two cemeteries of the residents that inhabited it. The basic information that outlines the history of the facility is fairly common knowledge, accessed mainly through the local libraries and archives. However, the identity of the facilities' residents remains as anonymous as the institution left them. Each resident's grave is marked with a metal marker and a number; No name is listed on the markers or is available to the public. The privacy of this information is by request of the resident's families.