The Jogging’s group show at the commercial printing space Baboo may have seemed like a joke at first, but instead it serves as proof that some artists are able to make smart work under any circumstances.
The Jogging is a loose group of contemporary artists including Brad Troemel — a collective that brought us vacuum sealed JAMES FRANCO man of the world cover with all BUSHWICK foods including homemade chocolate chip cookies and local anchovies and conceptual digital assemblages — all on their Tumblr. Last night, the Jogging had a physical art opening.
There are many “art worlds” coexisting simultaneously. Baboo gallery is not interested in contemporary art. Instead, it “provides expert imaging solutions for anything from gallery exhibits to retail signage.” It is, essentially, a commercial company that hosts group exhibitions from time to time to show examples of their photo printing services.
In one of the best exercises in context, the Jogging chose to show photographs from “The Shirleys” series. The name itself is derived from the old days of photo printing when Kodak’s old test negatives and transparencies typically featured an image of an attractive female in attempt to assist in the printer’s calibration of flesh tones. Most of these images seem to pulled directly from these old negatives, yet each features a post from The Jogging concealed in the composition.
What’s really clever here is that these images are now being displayed in the gallery alongside other works, most of which could be lumped into the category of “hobbyist” photographs but are each technically proficient nonetheless. This is not a joke. The Jogging is now paying homage to much of its ubiquitous source material by displaying their work among it.
(Art images courtesy The Jogging/Lauren Christiansen, opening photos: Kyle Petreycik/ANIMALNewYork)
