On birthdays, my mother— a puzzling woman, who elegantly balances a serious demeanor with a loud laugh— used to coax my brother and me to answer a simple question: “If you could wish for one thing, what would it be?” Yearly, I would respond as coached: “world peace and happiness.” My 12-year-old self would silently groan.
Her automatic altruism felt silly to me as a kid, but as I’ve grown older, her lesson in the value of a wish also developed meaning. A wish was open-ended, pure: a symbol of the opportunity and imagination required for a person to seize the world. Thank you, Mom.
An upcoming exhibition, aptly titled WISH LIST, has built itself on the foundation of well wishes. Presented by the Gallery Project, WISH LIST will open August 1, bringing a garden of desires to One Lake Erie Center, most recently inhabited by Artomatic419!
Choosing carefully
Based in Ann Arbor, the Gallery Project was founded as a gallery of ideas in 2005 by directors Rocco DePietro and Gloria Pritschet. In 2012, the Gallery Project chose to close their permanent location, opting to be on the road. “We got tired of the location, but not the idea. we wanted to try something different, in a bigger space. We spent time in Detroit, and chose Toledo after speaking with [award-winning Toledo artist and an Assistant Professor in the Art Department at the University of Toledo]Dan Hernandez,” said DePietro. Their newest venture, the dual-site exhibition WISH LIST, will kick off in Toledo before heading to the exhibit’s second space in Ann Arbor in September.
Occupying the former Lamson Brothers Department store, once a place of material wish fulfillment, WISH LIST illuminates another collection of human desire by laying out 61 impressive, multimedia works by national, regional, and local artists. Together, the wishes are a “courageous and optimistic composite of human longings,” according to the Gallery Project’s curatorial statement.
“We invited wishes that you might even think are inappropriate, or silly… because that’s part of wishing,” said Pritschet, laughing.
While some artists explore personal wishes of their own, many others illustrate wishes they have for the world.
Everyone’s take [on a wish] isn’t that direct, and that’s part of the idea of having all kinds of voices,” said Pritschet. “Some people express themselves with humor, some with rage, and you can also just enjoy the pieces for how great the work is. We never compromise on quality.”
Wishful thinking
“A lot of the artists are looking for a better future,” said DePietro. “Some of the artists are still in the process of getting there, but others are kind of working on the process. [I thought that] some of them are stuck, but Gloria said ‘no, they’re still in the process.’”
When you approach the building, the public windows will be filled with installations, one featuring the work of local artist and Bird’s Eye View Circus-master, Erin Garber-Pearson.
A large installation, Mandala Series by John Gutoskey, speaks towards the process of discovering— creating a safe space for meditation and reflection. Next to it, Morgan Barrier’s Sour Milk presents a bizarre, almost uncomfortable photograph of a woman struggling to find her place in nature.
“[Barrier] feels [a] separation between humans and nature,” said DePietro. “While sometimes we don’t feel empowered to change or heal… we recognize what the problem is… and we get a strong, emotional, guttural reaction. Like sour milk.”
Other works are whimsical, playful responses to the potentiality of a wish. Jennifer Presants’ surreal painting, At Last, shows an expertly-crafted room without walls.
What a view.
A special congratulations to the Toledo artists featured in WISH LIST: Anthony Fontana, Tim Gaewsky, Erin Garber-Pearson, Clifton Harvey, Dan Hernandez, and Arturo Rodriguez.
Join WISH LIST for an opening reception, featuring a live DJ, from 6-9pm on Saturday, August 1. The exhibit runs through Sunday, August 30.
Noon-6pm Thursday, noon-8pm Friday-Saturday, noon-4pm Sunday.
One Lake Erie Center, 600 Jefferson Ave.
734-332-1570. thegalleryproject.com
