"I do not believe in art; I believe in artists."
Marcel Duchamp
The above video showcases perhaps one of the most enigmatic and obtuse young artists living in Houston. Cody Ledvina is probably more well known for being one half of The Joanna, the best under the radar gallery in Houston. This space is extremely vital for emerging artists in the city. For over 3 years now they have played an integral role in showcasing up and coming artists alongside more established and respected artists.
But Cody Ledvina is much more than a curator and co-director of a gallery. He is an artist through and through. He is a chameleon able to adapt to any material while creating images, objects and videos that are as interesting as they are strange. In his world aliens, M & M characters, babies, Danny Devito, Whoopi Goldberg and Judge Judy are just as vital to our intellectual climate as is Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard or Arthur C. Danto. His worldview is all inclusive and often centers on the comedic aspect of existence. There is an inherent playfulness to his work that often confuses the viewer into thinking Cody is simply having a laugh at their expense.
The art world takes itself very, very seriously. As it becomes further streamlined with the academic world, the work that is celebrated is often cold and heady. Art that is churned out of this system often has little patience for humor. Cody's work stands in opposition to the stiff and over calculated aspects of contemporary art. In the grand scheme of the cosmos, is Post Structuralism more relevant than cute kitten videos on YouTube?
The terms "high brow" and "low brow" often come up in the discussion of contemporary art. From Greenberg on there is a tendency to distinguish real art (high brow) from the quaint imitator (low brow.) But as art history chugs along it seems almost irrelevant to distinguish between the two. As our definitions of art expand there seems little point in debating what is "really" art. Can art be fun? Yes. Should art be fun? Yes. Does Cody Ledvina make art that is fun? Most definitely.
I must admit that the meaning of Cody Ledvina's work often escapes me. This fact makes his work infinitely more interesting. Meaning does not need to to exist for art to flourish. Actually, it makes the work stronger, allowing more vital interpretations to form beyond the cage of academic, safe art. When looking at his work I do not want an artist statement to guide through the maze of absurdities before me. It is always engaging enough on the surface to demand deeper digging. The task at hand is never to solve the riddle of meaning (or meaninglessness for that matter.) Rather, it is to glean that there is something happily and unashamedly complex and ineffable happening before your eyes; and that maybe is the point. Like Socrates said: "Wisdom lies in knowing that you do not know."
Looking at Cody's work is always a fun filled occasion. There you will find an artist continually digging through the cultural zeitgeist of silliness and finding profundity in the least likely spaces. Next to Maury Povich and crappy YouTube videos you will see Clement Greenberg and Willem de Kooning standing by Bruce Nauman and Paul McCarthy. And if you look further to the right, deeper beyond the timeline, there is Cody Ledvina dancing with his doll Brandon further into the oblivion of laughter.
find cody at these places:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/codyledvina/
http://www.youtube.com/user/codyledvina
http://thejoanna.org/
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