Craig Deppen Auge (Kansas City, MO) | Exchange (Kansas City) | August 2021

This work, which spans across the top of the front and back stairwells to the second floor, is an exploration of form, pattern and scale, as well as a contemplative remark. Images of these chairs were cut from a collection of 60 Italian furniture catalogs which were sourced from the Records Room Archive. They exist as remnants form the Carolina Sales Company, one of the latter day businesses here, predating the museum. The crosscut pattern itself acts as an invocation, perhaps inviting roaming spirits a place to rest, similar to the “haint blue” as a There is also a reminder here to take time and just be still with yourself amongst the dazzling cacophony of the collection, though ultimately that rest and meditation is illusive. The work also reminds us to stay aware of the many multiples found within the collection, and that, in fact, multiples of an object or image are the very definition of a collection.

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As an artist with with an art history PhD, Franco makes the discipline itself his primary medium. For PICTURES ELSEWHERE, he considered the pivotal art historian Michael Baxandall's particular approach alongside his inheritance as an Elsewherian, the space and materials ultimately passed down from Sylvia Gray. This resulted in three new works: a performance for video, a book, and a live performance.