Introduction to the First IDSVA Student Exhibition to be held at the NYC Residency, January 2015 "The Artist Philosopher"

“The Artist Philosopher”

By Jeanne Moore, Cohort ’13

The idea of the artist philosopher is not unusual, but rather, has existed throughout the history of art. Artist such as Eduard Manet, Marcel Duchamp, Andre Breton, Joseph Kosuth and many others created works that raised critical questions about aesthetics, morality, social justice, and the role of art in the greater society. Their inter-textual approach to making art allowed them to give visual form to ideas that might otherwise not find representation. They used art to answer philosophical questions.

In this exhibition, artists come from varied visual arts disciplines including fine art, performance, curating, art criticism, art history, education and other creative arenas. These creative professionals connect their work to the greater question of what it means to be human, to create a dialog between disciplines and engage in critical thinking in consort with their creative practice. Art provides provisional liberation from the pressures of willing. Without exercising too much imagination, the gallery extends to the entirety of existence. The world is not something to observe through a plate-glass window, but rather something immersive.

“We are artists, we are theorists, we are creative thinkers who believe in the power of art to change society. This exhibition showcases our work as it speaks to the many questions we encounter in our philosophic inquiry, questions we confront in our daily lives and our struggles to understand the mysteries of our existence.”