This exhibition examines the overlooked impact of day jobs on the visual arts. Success for artists is often measured by their ability to quit a day job and focus full time on their practice. Yet, these jobs can often spur creative growth by providing artists with new materials and methods, hands-on knowledge of a specific industry that becomes an area of artistic investigation, or a predictable paycheck and structure that enable unpredictable ideas. First presented at the Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas in Austin in 2023, the exhibition now features a larger selection of works by California-based artists such as Margaret Kilgallen, Jay Lynn Gomez, Barbara Kruger, Ahree Lee, Jim Campbell, Narsiso Martinez, and Sandy Rodriguez, and is comprised of more than 90 works by 36 established and emerging artists based in the United States.
Day Jobs
Gibson, Jeffrey (1972- ), Tribes File Suit to Protect Bears Ears, 2018, Polyester satin, printed chiffon, canvas, neoprene, tin jingles, nylon fringe, glass and plastic beads, and artificial sinew (on tipi poles), Collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation.