David B. Smith Gallery

"Sprout"

Josh Keyes Solo Show

David B. Smith Gallery/ Limited Addiction
825 Santa Fe Drive
Denver CO 80204
303-893-4234
http://www.davidbsmithgallery.com

Sprout

1. To begin to grow; give off shoots or buds.
2. To emerge and develop rapidly.

The driving force behind this body of work has its origin in an experience I had about fifteen years ago. It began when I encountered a small, encrusted, odd, animal shaped artifact I came across at the Art Institute of Chicago Art Museum. Since that first encounter the enigmatic shape of the object has haunted the pages of my sketchbook and imagination. I eventually learned the object is called a Boli and was made by the Bamana People who are members of the Mande culture of West Africa. The Boli plays an essential role within Bamana spiritual life. The primary function of a Boli is to accumulate and control the naturally occurring life force called nyama for the spiritual benefit of the community. The creature that a Boli represents is unidentifiable and mysterious. Layers of sacrificial material that accumulate over time create the composition of the encrusted surface. Each added layer affords the structure greater spiritual power. The encrustation may include the blood of chickens or goats, chewed and expectorated kola nuts, alcoholic beverages, honey, metal, animal bones, vegetable matter, and sometimes millet. Sometimes this added matter is so extensive that it obscures the original form and takes on an anthropomorphic shape. The Boli and their numerous ingredients have been interpreted in a number of different ways. It has been suggested that the disparate elements of which the Boli are composed symbolize the various parts of the universe, so that the whole can be read as a model of Bamana cosmological belief.

Sprout features my personal interpretation of the Boli. The sculpture is intended to invite the viewer to become a participant in the additive process that will help to create the external form of the piece. Instead of the traditional and customary blood and animal bones, there are soil and seeds which people are invited to apply to the surface of the form. The seeds placed on the surface will gradually sprout and grow on the surface of the form through the duration of the show. The concept of this piece combines community, ritual, participation, with the end result being growth and regeneration.

There are a couple of pieces in the show that extend like tendrils or branch from the stylistic core of my work. These new ideas have challenged the way I organize information on the canvas. I like to think of this body of work as a thing sprouting. As with anything that grows above there is growth beneath. Lately, I have been more responsive to the images and ideas in my sketchbook that have a fantastic or absurd quality about them. I often think of the work in my sketchbook as raw material that lies beneath the surface. Like isolated layers of pebbles, sand, and soil, the ideas and rough sketches have poetic potential. They are for me amorphic images that I wish to continue giving form and presence to.

For more information please contact:

info@davidbsmithgallery.com