Suprise Correspondance: Robert Attanasio

Yesterday I was very plesantly suprised to receive an email from a little known American artist named Robert Attanasio. I met this artist unexpectantly at an exhibition of his called The Autopsy-Turvy Report held at Jim Kempner Fine Art in New York in January of last year. My friend Ruth and I stumbled across the exhibition whislt doing a tour of the independent galeries in Chelsea. The work consisted of lots of small pieces of work which seemed to represent the random train of thought he was having at the time. The work was quite political, very much in reference to 9/11, and his opinions of the ideas of the government. In a particuar favourite piece, Attanasio used a photography of the collapsing World Trade Centre as a CD cover. The disaster had become a selling point for the public to latch on too, in veiwing the horror of what the people went through they would in turn by into the true message wanted to be put across; the ideas of the government and what they wanted to do about the situation.

So anyway, as Ruth and I were discussing the work, a man sat in the corner eating his lunch began to join in with our conversation. After a few words, he revealed that he was in fact the artist, and he journeyed to this gallery to eat his lunch each day from that gallery where he was working located a few blocks away. He told us a story of an ongoing piece of work; on his walk to the gallery each day he collected a found object which caught his interest and placed it on the gallery floor. That day he had found a brick which had a mark on it which looked rather like a peace sign. After a short but interesting discussion with him, he asked if we would like to put our email address's down on his mailing list, which we both did, as we have done for many galleries we have visited, never really expecting to hear from the again.

However, yesterday I was very exited to open an email, not from the gallery but from Robert Attanasio himself. He was sending information of a new show he is taking part in in London. The link he gave to me is shown below;

http://www.campbellworks.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/galleryexhibitionspresent.htm

I unfortunatly was not able to go to the private view of the show, but as previously mentioned, this is just about about the 'being seen' and the alcohol anyway. I am very much looking forward to going to see the show and will report on said event afterwards.

Although I am pleased to be invited to a new show, my main excitment is still that I was contacted by a practising artist, who has been involved in succesful shows, and I now have the means to get in touch with him with anything I may be doing in the future. Perhaps it is just the 'being seen' that I care about. But as I have already tryed to put across, it is really just what everyone cares about.

However, I do urge every read of my humble little blog to visit this show, or if it is after the time when it is showing, to learn more about Robert Attanasio.