Inaugural pop-up exhibition at The Cost Annex
59 Wareham St (5th fl.), Boston MA
Taylor Davis: Some Assembly Required
Accompanied by an exhibition essay by art historian Martha Buskirk
Friday, April 13 2018 (One night only!)
6:00 - 9:00 pm
Why are you starting The Cost Annex?
Robert Moeller: That's a good question. I think I just wanted a place where I could showcase work that I really liked and was engaged with without formally opening a gallery somewhere. I didn't want to be consumed with the idea of becoming a gallerist but rather wanted it to be a natural part of the other things I do. I also wanted the flexibility of programming in short bursts that defy the standard notion of what an exhibition is and how long it lasts. The pop-up format is imperfect but it places one specific demand upon an audience and that is their presence.
Why did you invite Taylor Davis to collaborate for the first show?
RM: I just think we were on the same page, so to speak. When I came up with the idea for The Cost Annex, I almost immediately knew who I would approach about doing the inaugural exhibition. I showed Taylor the space (one floor above her studio on Wareham St.), and she agreed to do it. I think, in part, because she was familiar with the space and the artists who had worked there in the past. It felt right, I guess, and we built out from there.
Taylor Davis: Robert and I have worked in the same building for a long time, but I didn’t meet him until he asked if I would participate in a show organized around the presidential Inauguration. I said yes and made a square flag out of a dirty old white towel and plated brass grommets. When he asked me to do something for Cost Annex, I could see my work in the space – a squarish room with a slanted ceiling. The north wall has a window with of one of the few remaining industrial brick chimneys just outside. Plus I trust Robert. And I love and respect Martha Buskirk’s writing.
Taylor Davis, BRWG NE, 2016, Courtesy SEPTEMBER Gallery
Taylor, what will you be showing?
TD: REDGREENBLACKWHITES image/objects that are oil paint on canvas on built poplar stretchers – contrasting systems of division, color, light, position, and language that make indivisible sum necessarily reliant on difference. They’re my manifestos on balance. Plus some collages, and another thing that Robert and I are wrangling over.
All the work is constructed. They do many things simultaneously. Nothing is hidden.
