As a general rule, nostalgia in art is frowned upon. It’s a shtick that makes people like your art more than they should, because it’s familiar, and sometimes stagnates as sentimentality. Nostalgia is viewed as an intellectual and aesthetic crutch that prevents cultural artifacts from reflecting their own epochs.

With that in mind, we are coming out of the darkest year of our times, and the artists in Uplift chisel form and content from throw-away, orphaned and abject materials of the past that carry with them the survival signifier. What comes next? It is jouissance and inventiveness. The art is here to lift and leverage us to new elevations and alternative vistas. These artists make predictions with a forecasters wonder that new things are coming around our corner. A positive vaccination of bright color, glee, joy and encouragement that we all need right now.

The ‘new normal’ is no longer something that is conceivable to us anymore in this pandemic era. Instead, the artists in Uplift adapt and innovate, resuscitating materials from the past to create contemporary content and future-leaning possibilities.

Featuring the wonderful and innovative artists Eleanor Anderson, Andy Dreamingwolf, Amber Esner, Connie Fu, J. Leigh Garcia, Amber Kempthorn, Loren Naji, Edward Parker, Ron Shelton, Judith Salomon, Stephen Yusko, and Jonathan Wayne.

Image by Amber Kempthorn