The Fourth Book

BasketShop Gallery is pleased to be hosting Michael Corris for his first exhibition in Cincinnati. Since the 1970s, Corris has exhibited in galleries, museums, and international art exhibitions throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Corris began working as an artist in New York as a participant in the Conceptual Art group, Art & Language. His current practice includes independent exhibitions and publications under the imprint Free Museum of Dallas Press, as well as collaborative projects involving artists, writers, and educators. An impulse to engage in, and give visual form to, critical discourse is the origin of Corris's art. Throughout his career, Corris has created art in conversation with the world of contemporary art and the world at large. For the current exhibition, the artist turns his attention to the depiction of the exercise of power, gender inequality, and cultural appropriation. Corris's working method, with its reliance on historical research and appropriation, challenges us to consider some difficult issues currently facing visual artists. How narrowly can any political or cultural sign be defined? Is there such a thing as a "pure" cultural symbol? Can any one group lay claim to the meaning of a cultural sign absolutely? If, as cultural critic Kwame Anthony Appiah asserts, we are all mongrels of one sort or another, then what are we to make of the charge of cultural appropriation, with its negative connotations and prohibitions? Corris's art and bookworks may be found in public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Le Consortium (Dijon), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Tate Britain (London), Staatsgaleri (Stuttgart), Le Mus'e des Beaux-Arts (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland), Progressive Art Collection (Cleveland and Tampa), Collection Phillippe M'aille/Chateau du Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art (Montsoreau, France), and the Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles).