Monday, November 30, 2009

REFIGURATION

New Wilmington Art Association presents: REFIGURATION, a three-person exhibition consisting of work by A.D. Loveday, Chuck Mahley, and Mike Podolak on view at 4 West 5th Street, Wilmington, DE from December 4 - 31, 2009. The exhibition explores the alteration of the figure in the context of contemporary society's technological advances.


A.D. Loveday is interested in the human, natural, and technological relationships that occur in our world. She composes uncanny drawings that document that shift from natural to synthetic. Loveday's paradoxes are played out in an imagined landscape, populated by stylized characters that seem to forecast an imminent future. A childlike humor permeates her work, countering the seriousness of the deep undertones foreshadowing this paradigm shift of our culture.


Chuck Mahley also addresses the natural and the technological in his sculptures. These objects, which at times reference the body, oscillate between prosthetic-a replacement for a missing body part-and augmentation-an attached additive. As in Loveday's work, Mahley's forms and concepts echo this shift into the artificial. Works such as The Observer and Life Support use wooden carved elements contrasted with technological elements, such as computer parts, web cams, and fans, in reference to early automata.


Mike Podolak creates and manipulates images in a manner similar to digital computing. Using software such as Illustrator and Photoshop, Podolak builds, generates, layers, and distorts visual information. Sometimes the outcome is a digitally composed image, while in other instances the final product is an oil painting. In his Idol Glitch Series, Podolak, assumes the role of the machine as painter, re-creating pixilated images of the Virgin Mary. Podolak's work speaks not only to the deficiency of digital processes but also to the deficiency of religion and culture.


An opening reception will be held on Friday, December 4, 2009 from 6 - 9 pm with the closing reception on Thursday, December 17, 2009 from 6 - 9 pm.

No comments: