As we develop as individuals, our sense of play and companionship, physical touch and intimacy, nurturing and being nurtured changes. From childhood through adulthood, we are taught the restrictions and taboos of our society and learn that certain behaviors are "off limits," especially in museums where objects on display are to be considered from a distance and not to be touched. Binkybear attempts to breakdown these rigid barriers. With human-scaled, teddy bear-shaped benches, which make reference to pleasant childhood associations, the artist encourages the viewer to sit on, play, and even enter these lovable sculptures, which question the very nature of art itself.

Gregory Sale received a BFA in Sculpture and BA in French from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, and went on to receive a MFA in Art for University of Arizona. . His work has been included in the exhibitions: Touching Revolution (performance art event), Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; Moving Forward with Awareness and Compassion - A project with students from New School for the Arts, Arizona State University Art Museum (toured to Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Fort Collins, CO, and Atrium Gallery, New School for the Arts, Scottsdale, AZ); A Fairy Tale, Tucson Poetry Festival XIII 9 (collaboration with Ronald James Winterrowd), Tucson Center for Performing Arts, Tucson, AZ; Blood Brothers, World AIDS Day Event, Ice House/Crash Arts, Phoenix, AZ; Let Them Eat Marmalade (site-specific work and collaborative performance with Ronald James Winterrowd), deCompression Gallery, Phoenix, AZ; Mary, The Moon & Me (peformance), Toole Shed Studios, Tucson, AZ; Disseminating Allegories, Willow Gallery, New York, NY; Out West, Plan B, Santa Fe, NM; Arizona Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ; Ignitions, HazMat Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ; Troubling Customs, Ontario College of Art and Design Gallery, Toronto, Canada; School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; 2nd Annual Body, Object, Site: Artists of the Deep Creek School, Ice House, Phoenix, AZ; Olestra, Elizabeth Cherry Gallery, Tucson AZ; Testing Waters, performance for opening reception of the ASU Art Museum exhibition Art on the Edge of Fashion; Queer in the Year 2000-the Millennium Understood, Parson School of Design, New York, NY; Coupled, A-1 Nonprofit Art Space, Knoxville, TN; Homosexuality Images and Power, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; RecherchÈ: V. Uncommon, Out of the Ordinary, Choice, deCompression Gallery, Phoenix, AZ; Hot, Fine Art Parade Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Celebration, Santa Barbara, CA; Solo Performances, The Screening Room, Tucson, AZ; Forums, Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA; Outdoor Sculpture Show, Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, Brooklyn, NY; Towards 2000, Wood-Gerry Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; A Propensity Towards War, Bronx River Arts Center, Bronx, NY; Benefit Exhibition, Sculpture Center, NY; 14th Annual Small Works Exhibition, Washington Sq. East Galleries, New York University, NY; Snug Harbor Sculpture Festival, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY; and Surrealism Continued, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC.

Contact artist Gregory Sale with questions about his work for
nooks and crannies by e-mail at gregorysalenooksandcrannies@hotmail.com

John D. Spiak
Curatorial Museum Specialist
Arizona State University Art Museum