Bobbi Woods: Educated Guess
Visual art and advertising share many similarities.
Both rely on rules of composition and color theory to create appealing images. They draw their audiences in, capturing their attention.
These disciplines can even cover some of the same subject matter. Lust, greed, and identity, for example, are powerful tools for artists and advertisers alike.
That being said, to call art advertising or advertising art would be to misrepresent both.
Advertising is clickbait pure and simple.
It highjacks your senses, trying to grab your attention and, in most cases, your money. Advertisers are thermometers of insecurity. They sense your self-doubt and shame and offer you a simple solution.
Wear this shirt and you can be cool. Drink this beer and you can get laid. Buy this car and you can be sleek, like McConaughey.
Don’t get me wrong, advertising is not necessarily evil or even amoral.
But, it’s not art.
Art serves a higher purpose. It too highjacks your senses, thirsts for your attention. But where advertising gives easy answers, art asks questions. It braves the deepest waters of our consciousness. Who are we? Why are we here?
Certainly, there have been artists throughout history who have claimed to know these truths but, even these confident works leave us with more questions than answers. Classical art, for example, often espouses a certain type of morality or presents us with “absolute beauty”.
Nowadays these pieces rarely serve their intended purpose. They don’t inspire us to live according to these ancient concepts. Instead, they reveal the mindset of their creators, asking, why would people think like that? Even, why do we think like this?
It is for this reason that art is eternal. Even when it’s original themes are obsolete, art transforms its purpose, staying relevant forever.
Advertising, on the other hand, is ephemeral. And yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. Like I said before, art and advertising are two sides of the same coin. They are both aesthetic creatures.
So, with a little tweaking, couldn’t one become the other? Bobbi Woods newest exhibition does exactly that.
Educated Guess is a testament to the malleability of images.
Movie posters serve only one purpose: to get you to buy a ticket. Because of this, they have a shelf life.
Sure, certain iconic films carry such cultural weight that their once discarded posters become relevant again, appearing on dorm room walls across the world (looking at you Pulp Fiction). But, this is less a testament to the poster per se and more a result of the film’s impact.
In general, after a film leaves the theater, it’s poster becomes useless. But for Bobbi Woods, there is something more lurking beneath this promotional facade: a chance at a second life.
Woods takes film posters and breathes new meaning into their outworn forms. She tears them into pieces, covers them in spray paint, even dousing one with Chanel °5, in order to take these once fleeting images and create a lasting piece of art.
Educated Guess is on view at the David B. Smith Gallery in downtown Denver until November 19th. It is Woods’ first exhibition in Denver and is sure to leave a lasting imprint on those who see it.
Because like all great art, Educated Guess is not a prescription, it is an exploration.
