Ab30 Artists Breakfast Exhibition: Louisville Visual Art

When Tom Pfannerstill asked me whether Louisville Visual Art

would be interested in an exhibit featuring members of the Artists'

Breakfast Group to commemorate their 30th anniversary-the

answer was easy. Expressing themes of history and community through

a generational continuum, this exhibit is a natural fit for LVA, the oldest

visual art organization in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Curatorially, the process was smooth and collaborative. We discussed

parameters for selecting members from the group's long history, and the

artists took the lead in choosing pieces that best represented them. Tom

guided many of the initial decisions and communication with the group, and

I coordinated the logistics through installation of more than 40 works. A few

reached out to share their ideas, and their insight was invaluable in shaping

a vision that truly reflects this community of artists.

It was no surprise that several artists pushed the boundaries of scale,

bringing a dynamic energy of self-expression. The Artists' Breakfast Group

is filled with artists of quality; a range of distinct personali ties who still

experiment, take risks, and pursue discovery. The exhibition features several

of its founding members, and the depth of invention is alive in the work of

these septuagenarians as well as the younger generations that have joined

along the way.

The history of LVA and the Artists Breakfast Group is interconnected. This

point is underlined by the fact that among the participating artists, two are

former LVA Executive Directors, John Begley & C.J. Pressma. They each

share a mission for the importance of community and fellowship among

creatives. Performing arts demand collaboration, but most visual artists work

in some degree of isolation. While not exactly hermetic, the key moment of

creative inspiration typically occurs alone. Ultimately, the artist crafts their

identity entirely on their own.

Which gives us the essential truth of any group show, that a disparate

arrangement of work from a host of different inspirations must coexist

together in a space. In the AB30 Exhibition, we find that the sense of

community and shared history among the group provides enough connection

that the work effortlessly creates a conversation for the viewer to join.

Keith Waits,

Curator, Louisville Visual Art