MUSEUM Context in three blurbs

“Tracing Chaos: Aesthetics of the Surf Zone” X-TRA Contemporary Art Quarterly, Summer 2012

Written by Christopher James

“…  That is what surfer and artist George Raggett refers to as “breaking the frame”.  His ongoing project, “The Museum of Commerce” is a series of ever renovating ‘Situations’, that can’t be described simply as sculpture, installation, or even performance.  In his words, “the Museum lives”.  The Museum is an active experiment and a constantly evolving/devolving (shape-shifting) work of art.  Each “Situation” is a realized manifestation of the Museum in the moment and in a given context.  From the moment each situation opens, the installation begins to change. This change is not predetermined, but rather develops as particular individuals or forces from the local environment act upon it.  With this kind of de-authored, process-driven artwork that uses a kind of managed abandonment to wander into, hopefully, uncharted territory, the end product is never prescribed…”

“Hammer Projects: George Raggett” The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles 2004

Written by the co-organizers Claudine Isé and James Elaine

“Los Angeles artist George Raggett presents his sculptural installation of an off-kilter gazebo in the lobby Gallery.  Poking fun at false cheer affected by popular, Westernized interpretations of the Chinese art of Feng Shui, Raggett’s radically asymmetric gazebo calls attention to its own disfunction.  This giddy garden getaway cultivates myriad other references— to the history of landscape and park design, the tradition of the English Picturesque and English garden follies, religious festive objects and modernist plinths, for example— all of which visually collide in a dizzying, disorienting architectural enclosure which undermines expectation of the gazebo as a calming space of meditation and retreat.”

“Hang Time” White Columns, NYC 1999

Written by the co-curators of “Hang Time”, Debra Singer and Lauren Ross

“George Raggett combines elements of modernist architecture, utilitarian design and organic landscape into user-friendly art works.  ‘Wiener Island’ incorporates portable versions of the barbecue grill, sun deck, and grass lawn into a single piece of sculpture in a marriage of art and utility.  This functional work provides a “practical” escape for any city-dweller longing for aspects of idyllic suburban living.  Moreover, it mocks systems contained within the suburban lifestyle, such as the attempt to control nature artificially and the reduction of ‘fun” to a ready-made experience that can be achieved only with the right set of props.”

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

“Museum of Commerce” Foyer-LA, Los Angeles CA. "Pollination" (Curated by Jongil Ma) Gallery Korea, NYC     "Museum of Commerce/Sari Carel" (with Eric Legris) La Mama, La Galleria, NYC     "Bazaar" Soloway Gallery, Brooklyn NY     "Artisan Fair" Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn NY     "Museum of Commerce" Hanson Place Market, Brooklyn NY    "Experience Economies" (for Mary Walling Blackburn's Tutorials) The Lab, Boston MA     "Incident 46" (with Pilar Conde) Incident Report, Hudson NY     "Projections" (curated by John Pearson) Romer Young Gallery, San Francisco CA     "Rehearsal Sculpture" (in the Ohad Meromi exhibition) Art in General, NYC     "Surf Movie Night" (Curated by Christopher James) Mandrake, Los Angeles CA     "Radical Citizenship" (Curated by Mary Walling Blackburn) Hunter College, NYC     "Tracing Chaos" (Curated by "the Modeling Agency") Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla CA     "MFA Exhibition" (Bard College) Red Hook NY     "Museum of Commerce” Front Street Mini Mall, DUMBO, Brooklyn NY     "Museum of Commerce/Lukas Geronimas" (Curated by Jess Wilcox) Wassaic Project, Wassaic NY     "The Fuzzy Set" (Curated by Pilar Conde) LAXART, Los Angeles CA . "Chatter"  with Pilar Conde Carl Cherry Center For The Arts, Carmel CA “MOC-Public Plastic Invasion" Various Streets and Avenues, NYC

The Museum is included in "Incident Report No. 1-100" by Maximilian Goldfarb, Allyson Strafella and Nancy Shaver,  published by Publication Studio.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS PRIOR TO THE MUSEUM’S CREATION

"The White Shining City on the Hill" Happy Lion Gallery, Los Angeles CA   "Gazebo!" The Hammer Museum (Curated by james Elaine and Claudine Ise), Los Angeles CA     "Gravity and Transformation" Kristi Engle Gallery, Los Angeles CA     "Neointegrity" Derek Eller Gallery (Curated by Keith Mayerson), NYC     "Public Park" Scoops (Curated by John Pearson), Los Angeles CA     "Plainer" Torrance Art Museum (Curated by Kristina Newhouse), Torrance CA     "Triumvirant #2" Raid Projects (Curated by Max Presneill), Los Angeles CA     “George Raggett/Pilar Conde” Downtown Los Angeles YMCA (Curated by Caroline Clerc), Los Angeles CA "Three Attempts at Longevity" Triple Candie, NYC "Sumerian Sunrise... George Raggett/Pilar Conde" Welsh-Beck Gallery, Los Angeles CA     "La Tigresa Ultima" (Curated by Hung Tran) Acme Gallery, Los Angeles CA     "Auxiliary Settings" Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles CA     "Hang Time" White Columns (Curated by Debra Singer), NYC     "Park" Brooklyn Academy of Music (Curated by Hung Tran), Brooklyn NY     "Summer Show" DNA Gallery, Provincetown MA     "Darrin Little/Hung Tran/George Raggett" Crockett Rodeo, Seattle WA     "26 Technologies" (with Matt Luem and Darrin Little) 26 Technologies, Santa Barbara CA

George Raggett is included in "Hammer Projects 1999-2009" by Ann Philbin and James Elaine, published by The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and "Gone Wild" by Christopher James and Conny Purtill published by The House of Lazy J, Los Angeles.