Move: Commentary by Lee Shiney

Move. Move? Well, ok, the art moves. In some cases, the process of creating it involves movement. After further reflection I can grasp at a few tangents and allow that there is some kind of deeper meaning. At the very least I can nod if you say, Ah it's about this and such. But in the end, you know, we're just guys who make stuff.

Move on (to something more challenging)? Move out (of Wichita)? Move it (is something or someone in my way)? There's a lot of bits of truth floating around in this mess. What moved us? Chris Gulick, the 3-D guy, is moved by Calder and Mad Magazine and God, and I've seen a shift and a coming together in his work in the last year or so. He got married too. As for me, I'm three years out from successful cancer treatment and feeling like I'd better get the show on the road. So what better way to move to the next level than for a street punk and farm hick to take their show to the big city?

Chris makes stuff that actually moves, but not in a la-la-la-make-it-go-around way. He defines a piece's orientation in its 3-D universe, allowing for a delicate floating, balancing act rather than a full-blown dance recital. The movement in my own work takes place during the building process. I'm on a kick right now to ensure that I'm not using a paint brush as part of the creative process. Instead, I develop these devices that move and drip paint on a piece that might be moving as well, or I use the mechanics of serigraphy, or I use very long exposure photography, or even firing paint out of an air rifle. There may be nothing very novel about these processes, but the underlying premise is grounded in the passage of time, and making use of the time one has (left), and economies of processes, and using mechanical processes. If that makes no sense, well, I never thought I'd have to put into words that which (I thought) was supposed to defy definition. I really just want to build stuff.

An Adlib-Rebuttal from Christopher Gulick

(website link)

For a true intellectual, my buddy Lee makes it sound pretty simple. I suppose it (life and art) really is rather simple. I’ve never cared much for geo-political-ethno-gender-religiosity debate wars in art. I like art because it’s nice to look at. At this stage in art I prefer abstract and non-objective simply because I’m free to interpret it any way I chose. I’m rather bored with landscapes, cityscapes, and the such. Finely executed or whatever, I’m just bored with it.

Lee and I met several years ago and found the hick and punk to be kindred spirits. We like each other, each others artwork, and each others general outlook on art, the presentation of it and the “good, bad and ugly” of art scenes.

Lee ran the Lee Shiney Art Gallery for close to three years. It became an oasis for the avant-garde in Wichita. It was the premiere “guerilla” space. Then he got sick. He closed the gallery with the support (and sadness) of all.

Then he got better. Then he got his priorities re-priori-tied. I’ve been very excited about his work. The pieces themselves have a kinetic and hypnotic appeal to be sure. However what interests me the most is the creation process. The “barnyard engineering robotics” is rather intriguing. I hope Lee is able to set up a “machine“ for our show.

As far as my work, well, I’ve been balancing things since childhood. I’ve been building kinetic sculpture a little over a decade. Painters and other 2-d artists look at a blank canvas and see a portrait, house or some historical scene. I see a blank canvas. Unused airspace is entirely different to me. I view lines and colors to fill the void.I have always been fascinated by balance. That constant battle of wits with inertia and gravity. I’ve been equally intrigued by “junk”. It has an accidental aesthetic appeal that is acquired only by circumstance.The chaotic and curvaceous lines formed in nature appeal to my spiritual child, while hard straight lines in modern architectural design patronize the adult search for logic and order.All of these mindsets, in concert, result in the sculptures I’m compelled to build. Viewing art is often like a new conversation, one always finds something which about to agree and disagree. Please attend our showing, we’d love to meet some new friends.