Rod Barton is currently exhibiting the inaugural exhibition at the new gallery space in Brussels by Copenhagen based artist, Luc Fuller. The opening preview will be accompanied by a performance by the Portland based musician/composer, Jonathan Sielaff. The exhibition and performance was conceived in part by an ongoing dialogue between the two artists. 

The below excerpt is from a recent conversation between the two artists.

JS: ... I'm trying to remember this article or video that I read about a chef and the way he approaches vegetables. He tries to never slice them, but wedges in the knife, twists and lets the vegetable split apart in its own natural lines and form. I've spent a lot of time in the past trying to make what I'm working with into something it is not. Working against the innate form of what I have. In recent years I've been focusing in on how to refine what I've already got. Have you found that relating to your own work?

LF: Yeah, definitely. I've recently realized that I should be making exactly what I want to be making and not trying to make something happen if it's not happening. Ultimately, I think it shows when something was made out of joy - that's when you really believe in it.

JS: I completely relate to that!

LF: But like you said, it doesn't always work.

JS: We've talked a lot about that this past year.

LF: Do you get the sense while you are playing or performing something that you have it in that moment and that it's something worth keeping? Or does it take time after the fact to see if you've got something?

JS: A little of both. That initial spark needs to be there or else I feel like I have nothing to work with and lose motivation. I also always need an element of the spontaneous in everything that I do. There's a magic in improvisation for me. When everything is completely mapped out it kind of dies. But at the same time, I don't know whether it's worth sharing until after I've sat with it for a bit.

LF: I'm with you, I can't always see what it is until I've made the next painting. I need to hold it against something. It's always kind of two steps forward and one step back. Or probably more like two steps back, one step forward. There is a very similar logic to the way you structure and execute a piece of music and the way I go about my paintings.

JS: We are both concerned about sharing a feeling or presence that we imbed in or express through our work. It's about sharing in a very transparent and honest way.

Luc Fuller is an American artist living and working in Copenhagen. He has participated in recent solo, two person, and group exhibitions at Galeri Torri (Paris), OFG (Dallas), Kazachenko's Apartment (Oslo), ACAPELLA (Naples), and Adams and Ollman (Portland).

Jonathan Sielaff is an American musician/composer residing in Portland, OR. He performs on an amplified and effected bass clarinet and is one half of the duo Golden Retriever.

Luc Fuller - Painting/Drawing
Rod Barton, January 21 - February 27
www.rodbarton.com