Curated by SOIL
Organized by Sean Miller & Bethany Taylor

topsoil

Carol Bolt
Jay Bryant
Laurie Cinotto
Bill Fellows
Elizabeth Jameson
John Kieltyka
Sean Miller
Nora Mukaihata
David Rainey
Kathleen Stone
Bethany Taylor
Eileen Ward
Mary Zeran

July 3 – 30, 1995
Reception / Thursday, July 6, 6–8pm

Location / Diller Hotel, 1220 First Avenue, Apt. #220

topsoil is an all too brief glimpse of work by 13 members of the new Seattle artists’ cooperative, SOIL, as we seek firmer ground.

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topsoil was a two-night exhibition held at the Diller Hotel in downtown Seattle, next door to the Seattle Art Museum. We held the opening on the first Thursday of the Seattle Gallery Walk and pulled in a lot of people. It was a great opportunity to get the word out about SOIL. We exhibited in a loft space that we [Sean Miller and Bethany Taylor] were moving into. After leasing the space, we delayed moving in for a week to allow the exhibition to take place.

Nora Mukaihata exhibited a post-pop sculpture of cans with self-designed labels called Champ/Chump. John Kieltyka exhibited paintings and digital works. There was a small room that became an ambitious collaborative installation/collection of found objects and assemblages by Laurie Cinotto, Katy Stone, and Eileen Ward. Jay Bryant designed a kitsch toy poster for SOIL based on some of his fuzzy-focus Polaroid imagery. The show acted as a bonding agent for the group and allowed us to promote our intention of finding a space. We also gained some new members.

Such a casual show in an alternative location underscored our philosophy that the collective was more important than the gallery, and that we could put on great shows without a permanent space.

Text by Sean Miller