Close to the Flame

Exhibited from December 15 2007 – February 3 2008

The mission of Burning Man, in part, reads:

Burning Man is radically inclusive, and its meaning is potentially accessible to anyone. The touchstone of value in our culture will always be immediacy: experience before theory, moral relationships before politics, survival before services, roles before jobs, embodied ritual before symbolism, work before vested interest, participant support before sponsorship.

Every year, the week around Labor Day, some 40 thousand people from all walks of life and from multiple countries, meet in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada to participate in creative endeavors. Installations, both ephermal and non-ephermal, are created and installed on an ancient lake bed and follow annual themes. In 2007, for example, the theme responds to envirnomental issues and concerns.

Moving, tender, tough and rough, this exhibition features cutting edge, right-up-to-the-nanosecond, contemporary works. Indeed, the art created at and for Burning Man is among the most important contemporary art being created today. As an open door to creative activities and to experimentation, it is democratic, often ephemeral, and built on the principle of risk taking. This mindset allows for a distilled, elemental experience that is the visual and emotional manifestation of art, soul and spirit.