Over 100 years after Marcel Duchamp changed the course of Western art by joining two ordinary objects, a bicycle wheel and a stool, together, contemporary artists make widespread use of the everyday. Many artists today regularly use material that could be considered “garbage,” “trash,” “detritus,” “rubbish,” “cast-offs,” etc. in creating complex works of art.

Re:Purposed will explore several of the more recognizable trends among artists who consistently “repurpose” garbage or detritus in their practice. Themes that will be explored in the works of Nick Cave, Aurora Robson, Mac Premo, Jill Sigman, El Anatsui, Alyce Santoro, Vanessa German, Matt Eskuche, Emily Noelle Lambert, and Daniel Rozin are Index, Identity, and Environment.  Each theme is a potent reminder of our close connection to the materials we use to create and facilitate our lives. In the deft hands of these artists we see that those connections are far from severed when these materials are discarded.

Jill Sigman creates Hut #10, the latest "outpost" in this international series of site-specific works.

Image: Nick Cave, Soundsuit, 2008 (Detail) Mixed media, 94 x 35 x 35 inches, © Nick Cave. Photo by James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Re:Purposed is part of The Ringling’s 2014-2015 Art of Our Time season, supported by a grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation. This exhibition was paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues, the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, Saks Fifth Avenue and the State of Florida Cultural Endowment Program.  Additional support was generously provided by the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation Endowment, the Philip D. and Unni Kaltenbacher Endowment, the Publix Super Markets Charities Endowment, the William G. and Marie Selby Foundation Endowment, the Peter and Mary Lou Vogt Museum Generated Exhibition Fund and The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Foundation.