The Manatee  
takes things where they are
is deviant
is perverse
does things wrong
is power in a quiet fuck 

The manatee, as we know it, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant.  They are semi-social animals that are known to travel, investigate objects, and socialize by interacting with other manatees.  Manatees gather in groups varying widely in respect to size, sex or age and disperse casually.  Manatees also play follow-the-leader where two or more manatees move together in single file synchronizing all of their activities including breathing, diving, and changing direction.  Much like our aquatic counterparts, artists too float and mix with each other traveling together, investigating objects, and taking turns leading and following.   

As defined for this exhibition, the Manatee is the giant web of connections that represents a network of working artists.  The Manatee is made of artists who have secondary incomes to their work–artists who are also teachers, students, art administrators, preparators, writers…  The Manatee, as exhibited, is a visual discourse examining how mentees become mentors that generate commonalities reverberating through artistic practices. 

Manatee is not an homage to mentors, it recognizes the give and take of mentor/mentee relationships.  And as with human relationships it is imperfect discourse because the artists within the exhibition see something in someone else, in that same network, that reflects themselves.  The artists within Manatee cultivate education for themselves.

Work by:

Annie Bielski
Roger Danilo Carmona
Dawn Cerny
Dylan Marcus Corbett
Ryan Crowley
Taylor Davis
Meg Duguid
Rachael Fischer
Kelly Kaczynski
Ashley King
Julia Klein
Susan Klein
L. Koo
Fawn Krieger
Judy Linn
Adam Marnie
Nancy Shaver
Oliver Strand
William Wheeler
Cori Williams
Amanda Wojick
Mark Wonsidler