DEAN PROJECT, in collaboration with Y Gallery, is pleased to present “Cringe” a five-part performance-based exhibition series curate d by Cecilia Jurado.

Opening exhibition reception Saturday May 17th from 6-9pm with performance by Laurence Chirsteby Litt.

Included artists: Larry Litt – May 17th – May 25th Brina Thurston – May 31st – June 15th Elena Tejada-Herrera – June 18th – June 28th Noritoshi Hirakawa – July 3rd – July 13th Nicolás Dumit Estévez – July 19th – July 31st

Considering the current state of the art market – an unlimited oasis and supply of commercial art goods ready to be exchanged in multiple venues around the world – Cecilia Jurado questioned, “What about those in search of a small piece of an artist’s idea and not merely their detritus?” The answer she found: five culturally critical performance artists who ask, “why not be critical of one’s own world? Art has thousands of followers and many creators, but let’s be honest, much of the world’s population lives fine without it.”

Some artists, while they agree with those who cringe at the art world and its financial excesses, still have a deep desire and love for art that stimulates, provokes, and makes them think. Larry Litt, Brina Thurston, Elena Tejada-Herrera, Noritoshi Hirakawa and Nicolás Dumit Estévez remind us that the unmediated and unrecorded performance experience cannot be acquired and collected itself.

This exhibition is a conversation about contemporary art and its arbitrary values; like gold, art is only valuable when someone is willing to pay for it. Yet the collecting of art has an intellectual and cultural status far superior to the crass collecting of gold. When considering the idea of collecting art the average man in the street cringes.

Each of the participants will present original first-time-exhibited work. These performers have a razor sharp attitude towards their subjects and they clearly display their opinions. Sometimes these opinions make us cringe as well.

Be prepared to cringe.