“Sweat Shop” by TAIT at Pulse Miami 2008 will present a fascinating look into commodification and production of artwork in contemporary society. Initially, “Sweat Shop” is an installation where the artist sews within the gallery’s booth throughout the entire fair. Patterns are cut from TAIT’s autobiographical canvases and tailored to fit the collector by request. Conceptually, the work is not complete until the canvases are deconstructed and re-composed as objects. Sweat Shop soundly comments on the consumption of luxury goods, (i.e. clothing, fine art, accessories, etc.,) by a global economy obsessed with designer names and labels.

Firing at the art world’s shifting notion of high art versus low art, fine art vs. craft, and its criticism of “selling out” for commercial gain, TAIT’s work exemplifies how the aesthetic world now embraces world-renowned artists who produce everything from expensive handbags, skate board decks, jewelry to beach towels as genuine artistic commodities.

“Sweat Shop” heightens the dialogue between fine art and lifestyle by expanding the boundaries of the commerciality of art. As the fundamentals of what is acceptable as fine art and its applications are expanding, so is the way artists create their work. In the wake of today’s art economy, the demand for artists to constantly produce new artwork in order to satisfy the needs of galleries, art fairs and clients has amplified. Many are turning to computers, studio assistants and global out sourcing to develop, render and deliver the finished work.

Confronted by this social change within artistic standards, Sweat Shop addresses how the artist struggles to maintain a solitary presence within their studio yet acknowledges the directions and demands of modernity. “Sweat Shop” demonstrates the duality of studio isolation and cultural inclusion, of constructing and deconstructing the preciousness of painting, and the blurring differentiations between art, object and commodity.



b. 1971 Bay City, MI

EDUCATION

1995 Bachelor of Science, Oregon State University

EXHIBITIONS

2008 It's About Time, solo exhibition, de Soto Gallery, Los Angeles
2007 Art Miami, represented by de Soto Gallery, Los Angeles
2006 Scope Miami, represented by de Soto Gallery, Los Angeles Best in Show, group exhibition, de Soto Gallery, Los Angeles Art LA, represented by de Soto Gallery, Los Angeles
2005 Hand Picked, group show, Downtown Art Gallery, Los Angeles
2004 Group Show, Zeitgeist Gallery, Portland, OR
2003 Group Show, Underground Gallery, Bend, OR
2002 Group Show, Jospeh Kucinski Studio, Portland, OR, Bend, OR
2001 Surreal Reality, group show, Newport Fine arts Gallery, Newport, OR Group Show, Omni Gallery, Portland, OR
2000 Whatever, group show, Marial Arts Gallery, Portland, OR Interiors and Exteriors, Untitled Gallery, Portland, OR
1999 Group Show, Dragon Fly Gallery, Seattle, WA
1997 Group Show, Underhill Gallery, San Diego, CA
1995 Group Show, Lasalle Stewart Center, Corvalis, OR