Michael Smith and Joshua White
"The Quinquag Arts and Wellness Centre Touring Exhibition:
Artistic and Personal Growth in the Catskills Region"
November 9 - December 30

A new installation by Michael Smith and Joshua White about a fictional art colony and one businessman's plan to integrate its spirit and property into a global business venture.

This installation will take the form of a traveling exhibition organized by Mike (portrayed here by the performance artist Michael Smith), the well-meaning businessman responsible for the new vision of Quinquag. The Christine Burgin Gallery in New York will be the last stop of this exhibition whose imaginary six city tour has included Taos, Monterey, Cos Cobb, Provincetown and Woodstock. Through a series of didactic panels, photographs, a model, a videotape and artifacts from the colony's archive, the exhibition will recount the history of Quinquag -- an artists' colony moderately famous for its hand painted tiles and for its rocking chairs, once used by John F. Kennedy -- and celebrate Mikes' plans to build an international Wellness Complex on the land where the Quinquag Art colony has been situated for the past fifty years. Mike is proud of his humanitarian holistic vision and is convinced that it will be beneficial to the arts, business and the individual. On closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that Mike's long-term vision has suffered financial setbacks due to fluctuating stock prices and that his plans are destined for deep storage.