Performance by Christopher Anthony Velasco 9pm Gianni Arone Ciriza Daniel Leland Crook Katelyn Dorroh Paul Donald Luka Fisher Peter Kalisch Coffee Kang Page Person Machine Tara Jane O'Neal Christopher Anthony Velasco Marval A Rex On view Sept 13th through Oct 11, 2019, PERFORMING ABSTRACTION presents sculptures and paintings by artists who traverse the boundaries of performance and object making via painting and sculpture. Art found in galleries (and its presentation) is a performance, too--and many of the artists in this group show engage with their object making in a performative or ritualistic manner. The performance of abstraction and of mark making in PERFORMING ABSTRACTION is a means to both conceal and reveal the artists’ relationships to sickness, healing, magic, narcissism, gender identity, immigration,, queerness, transmutation, and gentrification, to name areas of focus. Abstraction is a means of survival. We reduce objects/signs/marks to their simplest forms to make sense of the world--Or, we use this reduction (counterintuitively) to complicate, to hide meaning amidst the chaos. Some artists in this show split the difference, while others consider painting (specifically abstract painting) as a “polite” way to perform anger and absurdity. Performances, video screenings, and ice cream socials will bookend this critical exhibition curated by Ilona Berger and Luka Fisher.