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Corey Escoto at his studio
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Agnieszka in Dissecting the Social Self: A [Wo]Man, an Animal, and an Ambiguous I. : Interesting... dennis in When Works of Literature Make The Leap: Joe, looking at Glenn Ligon this summer inspired me to give my ap... Kyle in Videogame Appropriation in Contemporary Art: Grand Theft Auto (GTA): I love the amount of work Rockstar puts... Docsson in The Art + Brain Files: These sound, to me at least, the same comments that were (and for some continue to... Birgitte Lamb in More Moments, More Dialogue: Hi Joe. This sounds very interesting and is clearly a subject of...
Corey Josiah Escoto is an artist based in St. Louis, MO. He also happens to be a tranquil, discreet, and steady 26 year-old art surprise who acts, talks, and walks like himself. Escoto is wisely pacing himself, revealing a few of his qualities at a time while continually giving me the impression he is learning, paying attention, and alert without letting it show. Humble at heart, he has exhibited nationally, internationally, and widely throughout Texas, his home state. He was one of three artists selected for the Great Rivers Biennial at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in 2008, where I first became acquainted with his work, as well as a recipient of the Gateway Foundation Grant. His work has been included in the traveling exhibition New American Talent 23, the Texas Biennial (2007), and has recently shown internationally in exhibitions such as Le Souvenir (Weimar, Germany); Seven Days Brunch (Basel, Switzerland); and Decollecting (Dunkerque, France). Escotos work explores the inevitable conflict between idealism and futility that results from endeavoring to better a troubled world and understanding the tensions of a crowded planet. Complex critiques of world reform organizations are examined through the lens of economics, religion, satire, food, and politics. An ever-expanding collection of vintage United Nations memorabilia continues to inspire and influence much of his works earnestly idealistic sentiment. Corey is living at his studio; he is not working from home. He has created the conditions where he attends to all his creative callings, one of them being cooking. Last time at his place, a friend of mine and I made a memorable exit with a dozen delicious homemade tamales. Either way, a studio visit at Escotos will leave you with a fine aftertaste. Georgia Kotretsos: Please walk us through your current studio situation. Corey Josiah Escoto: My studio is a really nice live/work space on the second floor of an old brick building in downtown St. Louis. It is poorly insulated and has 12-foot ceilings and big south-facing windows that get really great light and a beautiful view of Washington Street especially at sundown.
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Corey J. Escoto, "Show your Optimism with Every Purchase," 2007. 29" x 40", sparkle vinyl and acrylic on aluminum.
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CJE: I dont know how much I critique capitalism directly, but economics, social structures, beliefs, and philosophies are definitely part of the equation. And yes, wit and humor are also part of the equation of my artwork. Humor creates a mental atmosphere that allows for an easy entry point for a friendly, inclusive, and serious political discussion. Given that the term critique is a word that is linked with sociopolitical artwork, I dont feel like it accurately describes what I do; I much prefer the word examine. I say that because I dont want to place judgment on any particular group or idea because chances are, especially when you are making work about globalization, you run the inescapable risk of making choices that run contradictory to the direction of the implied message of a work. And there are plenty of people out there that like to play the gotcha game. The questions that I pose in my work are often born from ambivalent feelings that I encounter with choices in daily life. The clearest example is my Hooray for Globalization poster. The poster is a blatantly sarcastic illustration that frames my guilty knowledge of the CO2 evils of non-local, out of season foods, but it also expresses my less than unflinching steadfastness with regard to adopting a guilty green lifestyle, whether it is a matter of budgetary concerns, convenience, or pleasure.
Corey J. Escoto, "Interdependent Earth, Us Flag, Sad Sack(Bad Economy), Hooray for Globalization," 2008. 24" x 18", screen prints on paper.
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Much of my work focuses on the well-intentioned desire of the developed world to shape and accelerate the slow progress of the developing world in the likeness of its own image. And with the proliferation of National Government Organizations (NGOs), the earnest desire to help is often ineffective and many times has exacerbated the problems that they set out to solve. The trend to help, whether you define help in a George W. Bush Imperialist way or a micro-loan crunchy Peace Corps way, is a sentiment guiding the development of a new sub-genre of world saving themed books, films, magazines, blogs, and social networking sites. My work examines this phenomena of what I call global self-help that has emerged with the intense marketing campaigns by purveyors of such materials. Nowhere is this marketing push more apparent than in the United States, the worlds most wasteful and self-centered country in the world. How is that for irony? I am for an art that expresses the global, social, and personal concerns of our time; an art that questions what is possible; an art that is informed by history and forward-looking, while being grounded in the present; an art that questions the centralization of power; an art that gives an audible voice to the nuanced grey areas of life; an art that calls attention to the global issues that transcend laws and responsibilities of a particular government; an art that adds to Quality of Life (QL), encourages Gross International Togetherness (GIT), and facilitates Subjective Life Satisfaction (SLS). GK: It sounds like youre pretty much set art-wise. CJE: I wouldnt say I am set in stone, but I guess I have a guiding framework of ideas that guide me. But I always reserve the right to change as I, and the world around me, changes.
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Posted in: > Flash Points:, > Inside the Artist's Studio, How can art effect political change?, Interviews, Sculpture, USA Similar posts: Inside the Artists Studio: Jason Peters , Inside the Artists Studio: The Studio Reader and the SAIC Summer Studio , Hubbard/Birchler: No Room to Answer , Moving In , Gastro-Vision: Martha Roslers Kitchen Mise-en-Scne Comments (2)
2 Responses to Inside the Artists Studio: Corey J. Escoto eyeshalfdreaming on October 3, 2009 11:45 pm Manifesto of the half closed eye There is no distinction between man and nature. We are born out of our blind mothers deep cavernous slimy womb and we are her hands, her eyes, her thoughts, her body, and her joy. We are young, and are not wise. We are talented and we are powerful and our sight goes far. Still, our seeing does not go deep, and are not wise. Our modern industrial culture stands at an unprecedented edge, where these heretofore unindividualized byproducts of the unenlightened enlightenment have sped us. Time and greed have accelerated so immensely that people have shrank into themselves and forgotten the possibility of each others existence. The very idea that life could go on without their being is seen as impossible. Fear of their own death is now seen as complete apocalypse. Cooperating at the basest level with those around them, who they see as mere ghosts, they cram as much sensory experience and quantifiable life down their throats into their fat bellies so that life as they understand it, does not feel wasted. -Chapter 2 from Twelve Months in the Inferno, J.L. Inscot The very least that is certain and absolute is my consciousness. The very most that is possible is the consciousness of everything. -John Dixon The dependence upon only what is absolute, knowable and light, results only in utter loneliness and absence, incomplete existence. When form disappears, all that remains is shadow. Is that absence real?
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TOMAS CAPISTRAN on April 19, 2010 1:29 pm Estimado COREY J. ESCOTO : I wish a lot of good things in your life like art-painter. I studied your history and experience like examplo to me. Thanks for show your thoughts. Sincerely: Tomas Capistran tomascapistran94@aol.com Reply
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