TRADE SHOW: a collection of traded paintings. Curated x Rachel Wolfson Smith, December 1-December 23, 2017

​Trade Show: A collection of traded paintings. Curated x Rachel Wolfson Smith

Opening Reception: Friday, December 1, 7-10pm
Exhibition: December 1-December 23, 2017
Hours: Saturdays 12-5 pm or by appointment

Artists may be poor, but their art collections are mighty.  The artwork they hang in their homes is acquired by forging friendships and making trades. Each piece shows a lineage of conversations, critiques, and ideas that their identity as an artist, and as a person were built on.

"Trade Show" is the collection of other-painter’s-paintings that Wolfson traded her work for over the years. Each piece shows insight into her past, be it from Ben McKee’s introspective rainbow spectrums , Chris Fitzwater’s blue drunks, Jovan Erfan’s modern Persian miniatures, or Laura Swytak’s unparalleled eye for light. Each is a piece of the puzzle.

The show is housed in the gallery at Pump Project Art Complex,  a 1950’s warehouse built from long pine that’s been subdivided into dozens of artist’s studios and two galleries. Since its birth in 2005 it’s grown into a place of exploration, experimentation, and friendship. Trade Show coincides with sister gallery ICOSA collective’s TSA LA / MVP show, another show of trades with a broader community of artist collectives. 
As we sit on the edge of the Pump Project building closing, it feels more timely than ever to show what community can look like, and how important it is to merge the existing history of Austin with the newcomers, like Wolfson, who want to grow with it.
*painting by Ben McKee

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​Born in Baltimore, MD, Rachel Wolfson Smith earned her BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and her MFA from Indiana University. She is an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant recipient, and has participated in artist residencies at Halka Sanat in Istanbul, the Babyan Culture House in Ibrahimpasa, Turkey, and with the Austin Fire Department. A frequent traveler, Smith is inspired by the similarities of different cultures. Her large scale drawings focus on myth and self through images of forests and crashing cars. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally. She maintains a studio at Pump Project Art Complex in Austin, TX.
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www.rachelwolfson.com