THE CREATIVE ACT
Michael Lindeman

August 3 - October 24, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, August 3, 2018 | 5:30 - 9 PM

Australian artist Michael Lindeman presents a series of large-scale, text paintings designed specifically for a U.S. audience on display at The Delaware Contemporary. Titled The Creative Act, Lindeman's exhibition references Marcel Duchamp's lecture (also titled The Creative Act) in Houston at the meeting of the American Federation of the Arts in April of 1957. "The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act."

Lindeman's paintings consider the realm of the internet as a venue for buying, selling, and exchanging commodities. They question how financial and cultural value is attached to various branches of creative activity and examine the area of meta-art. The exhibition shines a light on Cyberspace through the old media lens of painting, while seeking innovation and attempting to push at the edges of the field. The core works featured in Lindeman's The Creative Act replicate genuine online classifieds advertising art for sale from various locations across the U.S.

The use of text and deadpan humor is central to Lindeman's practice,  facilitating an inquiry into applied cultural meaning, value, and the commodification of art. Of course, the irony is that Lindeman is a willing participant of the commodity culture that increasingly dictates contemporary art.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Curated by Morgan Hamilton
Beckler Family Members' Gallery