Currently
May 2009
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