PRACTICE

NOW. HELL IS REAL. SYDNEY JOSLIN-KNAPP. JULY 13 – AUGUST 14

*PRACTICE*	*PRACTICE*	*PRACTICE*
– exhibits previously unseen artwork in the gallery and public spaces of Dresden, Ohio	– represents a roster of artists that work near Dresden to examine our specific locale, history, and future	– provides space for artists beyond our roster to experiment at scale, with large solo exhibits
– publishes limited edition books ranging from fiction to art theory	– believes experimentation is a requirement to creation	– operates without social media, meaning this is our singular online platform
– appreciates its remoteness as a positive	– endeavors to provide opportunity through face to face interaction	– is not interested in reach, scope, numbers, growth, etc.

*LOCATION*
	– 811 Main Street, Dresden, Ohio
*VISIT*
	– by appointment – text 415-570-1982 – email samcswstudio@gmail.com

811 Main St, Dresden, OH, United States

PRACTICE GALLERY & PRESS are housed in 811 Main Street, a red brick building dating to 1890. Originally a cobbler’s workshop and music hall, before reincarnation as the village library, pharmacy, roller rink, hardware store, architecture studio, five-and-dime, and finally an antique mall. Dresden was meant to be a railway hub and part of the Erie Canal, both of which never happened. However, the basket company Longaberger originated here; it went bust. Before Dresden’s invention, the surrounding lands were settled by Shawnee, Mingo, and Delaware peoples. Their connected communities were known as Wakatomika before being raided and destroyed as part of Lord Dunmore’s War.

PRACTICE ARTISTS
– reflect a wide range of cultural and personal relationships with Dresden, Appalachia, rural life, and creation. By refusing to create vaguely global or transmutable work, the artists refine their work’s ambitions through precision, meaning each exhibit is a context-specific installations. Across ages, genders, and ethnicities, the work is rounded by its critical, appreciative, and quizzical observations of here. The Practice Gallery is pursuing a visual and literary vocabulary* specific to Dresden*/Wakatomika.	– Charlie Rosen – Arie Rosen – Julia McBride – Christabel Wagner – The Brothers Livingston – Ensue Singer – L.M. Lloyd

PRACTICE PRESS
– writes and publishes limited edition books. These documents are both fictional and factual accompaniments to the gallery and village. Functioning in tandem, the Gallery and Press form a style and perspective meant to inform one another. These works purposely blur the lines between reality, hallucination, perspective, and bullshit. All books are distributed from the gallery for free to visitors.	– DAS – Sheriff – Learnt – Present/Absent – Punk Architecture – Dream Lottery

PRACTICE PRINCIPLES

– an experimental outlet that counters the stigma of local, or rural art, as an inferior form, and does not need to import urbane ideas to validate its worth. Nor does it desire to affiliate with the fictional art world, unless in fiction. We are not a community organization aiming to grow a better place to live. Those outcomes would be purely incidental. The Gallery and Press’s work is a dedicated study of our environment, believing this is already somewhere.