The Front is a member-administered nonprofit organization, founded in New Orleans in 2007. “A Short History of The Front” is described by Paul Chan his 2010 essay The Unthinkable Community” published in The Front’s first collective catalogue and E-Flux Journal #16. As a collective member between 2012 - 2015, I curated a suite of exhibitions featuring work by Poppy Coles, Utah Synder, Claire Kohne, James Goedert, Toby Franklin, Shane Darwent, Jill Frank, Amy Johnson, Pradip Malde, and Rachel Malde among others.
PLATS, Poppy Coles & Utah Synder, 2015
A plat in the United States is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. A plait, pronounced plat in British English, describes a braid of hair and stems from the old French word pleit, which means to fold. Now, to fold could indicate the portioning of two-dimensional space, a simple crease in a piece of paper. Or it could be a sudden crumbling, a collapse. But as things can fold and be folded, they can unfold as well. In their first collaborative exhibition Poppy Coles and Utah Snyder will present two drawings, one image, and one sculpture.
Untitled (Desire Tiles), Claire Kohne, 2015
Untitled (Desire Tiles), is a ceramic floor installation created by New Orleans and Los Angeles based artist, Claire Kohne. Kohne is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work includes installation, collaborative performance, writing, and dish ware. After receiving her BA from UCLA in 2011, Kohne moved to New Orleans in 2013. Her work has been exhibited in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Berlin.
There are only so many days in a planet, James Goedert presents Toby Franklin, 2013
Toby Franklin is James Goedert’s left hand. He holds James’ coffees and assists in buttoning buttons when required. But otherwise, Toby’s participation in the world is limited by his proximal uselessness. This is not sad, as it affords him ample time to practice his philosophies and ideas - of which he has many. Currently his interests include, but are certainly not limited to: time, space, and other everythings. For seven years Toby has been foraging for insight into the inner workings of these mechanisms and is eager to share his comprehensive study of the universe, how it is, and everything else.