Sebura&Gartelmann: Bonded exhibition catalog

A Laborer’s Bond
Catalog essay by: Andrea Oleniczak & Taylor Kurrle
Sebura&Gartelmann are consciously
bonded, psychologically and
physically, through a practice that
employs a shared use of tools, space,
and subtle nuances of male
relationships. Their relationship reveals
subtle undertones of trust, vulnerability,
and intimacy overlooked as core
values of friendship between men.
Insight in and through their bond
finds form through mediums of video,
photography, and physical objects.
At the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, graduate school was the
stage for Sebura and Gartelmann’s
initial meeting. A shared background
of skateboarding and alternative
culture created what they describe
as an instant connection. Not
participating in the white-collar
activities of youth left both Sebura
and Gartelmann to find a supportive
family in skateboarding crews. As
they grew up, the family evolved
into laborer crews.
Sebura&Gartelmann: Bonded marks a
decade of shared practice and artistic
collaboration for Jonas Sebura and
Alex Gartelmann. Sebura&Gartelmann’s
relationship has weathered
the tides of any personal relationship:
juggling long distances and the
competing obligations of their
careers to carve time and space for
their practice. Foundational bonds of
this history stem from a middle-class,
blue-collar upbringing expressed in
their work through labor, subcultural
references, and subtle cultural rebellion
towards assumed norms in male
relationships and male bonding.
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