Tom DeLaney and Stephen Collier: Enigma Variations + Group Activity II
Opening: Saturday Feb 10, 6 - 9 pm

Exhibition Dates: Feb 10 to Mar 3
Please note: The gallery will be closed Sun Feb 10 due to Mardi Gras Parades



Good Children Gallery is pleased to announce two exhibitions: Enigma Variations by Thomas DeLaney and Group Activity II by Stephen Collier. Join us this Saturday, February 10 for the opening from 6pm to 9pm.

Stephen Collier returns to Good Children Gallery for the second installment of his participatory throw piece series. Group Activity No. 2 recruits participants to throw used books at a blank, white wall. The first Group Activity premiered in 2012 and participants were asked to throw green glass beer bottles at the same wall, and decorative sculptures were made with the shards and remnants.

The wall represents a somewhat resistant, clean slate that slowly becomes littered with piles of disorganized information. All text on the covers of the books have been painted black initially concealing each one's identity. As the books hit the wall and fall to the ground in random disorder, a landscape begins to form, creating a layered language similar to a lost archaeological site. Dark traces of the books hitting the wall are also part of this layering.

Contact microphones are placed onto the wall to capture the brutal impact. The sound is then manipulated through guitar effects pedals and played through an old Fender amplifier, creating an absurd performance and another layer of communicating language. Once the exhibition ends, select pages from the debris will be collected and compiled into a small edition of unique one-of-a-kind books.

Thomas DeLaney (b. 1977 Tallahassee, FL) lives and works in New York. He received a BFA in Studio Art at Florida State University. DeLaney has exhibited at Big Pictures Gallery in Los Angeles, Secret Project Robot, Live With Animals, Newman Popshiavill, 48 Bowery, Kill Devil Hill, and Ligne Roset.in New York, Nudashank Gallery in Baltimore. and at Bland and Vargas in Berlin Germany. DeLaney also plays drums in the bands Prints, Miss Teen America, and formerly Tits Dick Ass.

Stephen Collier (b. 1971 Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, MS) Colliers’s work has been exhibited at the Atlanta Contemporary (solo and Atl Biennial), the Soap Factory in Minneapolis, the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, Whitebox, NY; Artist Curated Projects (two person), Los Angeles; VAG (solo), Los Angeles; Western Exhibitions, Chicago; LVL3, Chicago, and Bronx River Art Center, Bronx. His work has been is discussed in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Pelican Bomb, BOMB Magazine, and his exhibition at Arcadian Center for the Arts was reviewed in Art Forum. He has been awarded residencies with the Santa Fe Art Institute, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and Louisiana Artworks. Collier has received grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and Warhol Foundation and was included in the Prospect 1.5 curated by Dan Cameron. Collier works in a range of media, which include photography, painting, sculpture, sound, and video. He received a BA from the University of New Orleans. Collier is a founding member of Good Children.