Scent as a Creative Medium

 Miriam Songster   Jonah Simonak   Stefan Kehl

Joey Rosin   Jordan Robin   Paul Head   Rachel Barfield

Irina Adam   Aliaksandra Basalayeva   Killian Wells

curated by Dr. Andreas Keller

August 8 to September 14, 2024

The practice of extracting scents from nature and mixing them to create novel perceptual experiences that have meaning not found in its components is as old as other forms of manipulating natural materials to give them meaning, such as sculpture or painting. Throughout the millennia, creative work with scent reflected the changing societies in which it was practiced and underwent technology-driven revolutions, but because the results of this work evaporated long ago, developing a theoretical framework for the medium, suggesting canonical works, or attempting to divide its history into movements is uniquely challenging.

 Scent art is always contemporary art. Its history is not found in extant artifacts but only in the traces it left in contemporary work. Olfactory Art Keller is honored to present ten recent works by ten artists that illustrate the potential and versatility of scent as a medium in the group exhibition Scent as a Creative Medium.

Miriam Songster, At Home with Fox and Beaver, 2021

a pleasant version of the scent produced by the encounter between a fox and a beaver

Jonah Simonak, Unscented Candle, 2023

the experience of a scented candle, aromatically stripped of the typical signifiers that make candles scented

Stefan Kehl, The Soil, 2023

an experiment in reduction that points clearly and directly to the essential

Joey Rosin, 2%, 2023

recreates the perception of a cold glass of milk on a hot summer day

Jordan Robin, Idem Ink, 2023

enhances oakmoss without stripping it of its raw power

 Paul Head, Joker, 2023

includes white wormwood, jasmine, tonka bean, tobacco, and numerous others

Rachel Barfield, Shame, 2024

a fine balance between pleasant and unpleasant, juxtaposing ingredients that resemble human secretions with florals, soft musks and ambers

Irina Adam, Scentless Apprentice: Kurt Cobain at MTV unplugged, 2022

portraits the late singer at one of the most iconic moments of the 1990s, playing guitar, smoking Winston Lights, wearing a mohair sweater.

Aliaksandra Basalayeva, Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2022

juxtaposition of the chill and cold of the unknown and the familiar comfort of understanding

Killian Wells, Here’s Johnny!, 2022

a scent portrait of Jack Torrance (as portrayed by Jack Nicholson) from Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining