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FRONT ROOM
curated by rupen, 2003,
www.instantcoffee.org

review by Phil Anderson




PRESS RELEASE FOR FRONT ROOM cURATED BY RUPEN
Gallery director: Antonia Lancaster

OPENING: Saturday April 5th, from 2-5pm.
LOCATION: 506 - 80 Spadina Avenue, Toronto.
SHOW RUNS: April 2nd - 30th, 2003

This exhibition presents a particular practice connected to private/public spaces

Instant coffee is a service oriented collective, its most consistent members are Jinhan Ko, Jenifer Papararo, Kate Monro, Jon Sasaki, Cecila Berkovic, and Timothy Comeau. I can not ( in this short statement) tell you of all their events, practices, information and publications, I can only urge every arts positive person to find out more about them.

Over the last two and a half years LuLu De’Lamour@a_level, Stefan Schmuhl@ Project, Jinhan and Jenifer@workplace have all curated, organized or hosted a large number of exhibitions of differing practices in their own living space. This obliteration of public and private boundaries affected me. We all know the financial reasons why this multi use of space has taken place, but what is more essential is the time and energy dedicated to nourish, support and present the potential of our local artists works and ideas, and have strangers as well friends visit their home. This to me shows great trust, patience and belief in artists and ones community.

The artists selected were not given a clear outline for this exhibition, they were only told they all had this particular practice in common.

RUPEN
cURATOR OF FRONT ROOM
MARCH 25, 2003




PHIL ANDERSON"S REVIEW OF FRONT ROOM
LOLA 16 summer 2003 vol.7, no.2, pp.48

FRONT ROOM with Instant Coffee, Lulu De L'Amour, and Stefan Schmuhl. Curated by Rupen at offthemapgallery 506 Spadina Ave. Apr1-30, 2003 This quiet little show pays homage to some local artists who have opened up their spaces for exhibitions of art. The collective Instant Coffee has a stencilled poster in this show that says it all: "Instant Coffee Does Not Have The Monopoly On Bad Art." Likewise, Lulu De L'Amour (who, for a while, lived in and operated the Peter Richmond Gallery) has a collection of snapshots of local artists, and personal hand written notes posted to the wall. Her photos of familiar faces around the art scene bring home the message that this exhibition is about community bonding. Stefan Schmuhl showed documentation of the ten exhibitions he put together in his Pape Avenue house two years ago. Known simply as Project, Schmuhl's living room was open for a year and about forty artists from Toronto and New York showed their work. Putting these artists together in one exhibition offers a great slice of time, and why not give a home to the artists who have offered theirs? Phil Anderson

LOLA 16 summer 2003 vol.7, no.2, pp.48





Instant Coffee is no better than you, 13' x 9', print on paper, 2003, INSTANT COFFEE
www.instantcoffee.org




Instant Coffee is no better than you, detail', print on paper, 2003, INSTANT COFFEE





Instant Coffee is no better than you, detail', print on paper, 2003, INSTANT COFFEE





Rita ( It feels dirty! ), 12' x 8', assemblage, 2003, LULU DE L'AMOUR





Rita ( It feels dirty! ), detail, assemblage, 2003, LULU DE L'AMOUR





Rita ( It feels dirty! ), detail, assemblage, 2003, LULU DE L'AMOUR





Two spaces, 6' x 1', Installation, 2003, STEFAN SCHMUHL





Two spaces, 6' x 1', Detail, 2003, STEFAN SCHMUHL





Two spaces, 6' x 1', Detail, 2003, STEFAN SCHMUHL