I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.
Claes Oldenburg, sculptor, artist

Bruce Burris and Kurt Gohde may or may not love the same art Oldenburg does, but they certainly support the idea that art should do more than just sit in a museum. The pair recently started "a phantom gallery" called Con/Temp whose quick success demonstrates the need for a broader art community in Lexington.

The gallery's premiere exhibit, which showed in a rented moving truck, was presented all around the city. From a WalMart parking lot, to the lot of a Gray Construction building, the gallery's mobility guaranteed a diverse audience whose interaction with the art and each other hopefully spurred a local artistic dialogue otherwise lacking in Lexington.

Burris and Gohde aren't the first to recognize the weaknesses in the artistic community and energy in the Bluegrass. People like Kris Kimel, President of the Kentucky Science and Technology Center, have long been emphasizing the need for a more urban artistic environment as a means of attracting business to Lexington. Such supporters of the arts and business argue that creativity is vital to entrepreneurship, and that inventive people (and their firms) are attracted to creative environments. Encouraging the arts in Lexington is therefore economically advantageous for the city.

Directors Gohde and Burris agree that a thriving art environment is fiscally beneficial, but see also its advantage as a political and social communicator. According to Gohde, Con/Temp seeks "to provide a space for work dealing with social and political issues, to provide support for artists who want to work that way, and to introduce the work to new audiences, specifically those directly affected" by issues art deals with. In their first exhibit, for example, photographs of a grant-sponsored renovation project to refurbish houses in a disadvantaged district of Cincinnati were displayed, demonstrating one way in which communities can take action through art. The directors hope that through Con/Temp, a gallery whose prime motive is community dialogue rather than sales, the potential of art will be demonstrated, sparking a community dialogue that previously did not exist.

As Burris explained, "the idea [behind Con/Temp] was to get work out to communities that didn't see it." The gallery's mission statement follows this logic, elaborating on the need for an increased art community. It reads, "Con/temp seeks to build a new audience for contemporary art through programming and traveling" with exhibitions that will hopefully increase awareness of artwork's power as an agent of change.

The idea to create an exhibit space for community-oriented art was in the works 6 years ago, but it wasn't until last year that the two directors began formulating more concrete plans. They were interested, like others before them, in addressing art needs not being met by the current arts community in Lexington. With only the University of Kentucky's Art Museum, and no contemporary art-oriented centers, the desire for a place to exhibit socially and politically driven work, rather than marketable art, was growing. So Burris and Gohde took the initiative and began planning a space.

The idea of having a 'phantom' gallery grew out of two problems - the need for cheap exhibit space, and the desire to get artwork into communities that didn't see it. According to Burris, "The truck solved both." Its success certainly seemed to prove it was a viable solution; the requests for visits from the truck gallery were more than the truck could make on its 24-hour budget, and the dialogue created from one stop has resulted in the phantom gallery's next temporary home - Max's Louden Square Buffet.

Max's is owned by Max Flannery, Sr., whose son, Max. Jr. owns Grey Construction, one of the stop sites of the truck gallery. As a result of the dialogue the gallery created, the idea came about to have an event at the restaurant. The chosen event will be a poetry reading. The poet will be hired for 3 days, 6 hours each day. The first two days, s/he will be paid to develop a body of work related to the interactions or experience of being in the restaurant. The third day, the poet will perform poetry from the experience. Although Burris admits that he and Gohde did not really think of poetry as being the most immediate part of Con/Temp's mission, it fits in with their goals and encourages, again, an artistic dialogue in new ways - Max's Louden Square Buffet is not a frequent host of poetry readings. Burris pointed out that even in seeking a poet for the event, one can see the arts being integrated into the social and fiscal circles of Lexington. It's rather unusual, after all, to see an advertisement for a poet in the job classifieds. Such an advertisement brings art to a level of social/community need, like an ad for a plumber would. It represents economic factors related to art, and the effect art has on the business world. Additionally, encouraging the owners of the restaurant to jury applicants and hire someone expands the critical art environment beyond those who traditionally have power over art in Lexington - gallery owners, art buyers, etc…, bringing art into the everyday lives of more and more people.

Through activities such as these, Con/Temp hopes to change Lexington's art community, making its existence dependent not on the benevolence of a few avid art supporters, but rather, dependent on the need, desire, and action of a diverse community who appreciate art and recognize its importance for cultural, social, political, and economic growth in Lexington.