A New Look moniquemeloche
A NEW LOOK Sadie Barnette Anna Bjerger Jessica Campbell Zoë Charlton Chitra Ganesh Jillian Mayer Caroline Wells Chandler
This publication was produced on the occasion of the group exhibition, A New Look, at moniquemeloche in spring 2017.
© 2017
Installation view
moniquemeloche is pleased to present A New Look, a group exhibition featuring work by Sadie Barnette, Anna Bjerger, Jessica Campbell, Zoë Charlton, Chitra Ganesh, and Jillian Mayer, with a concurrent site-specific on the wall project, Transmitter, by Caroline Wells Chandler. A New Look presents a selection of artists working within the realm of figuration today, employing this fundamental aesthetic notion as a lens through which to explore their different formal and conceptual concerns. Rather than offering an exhaustive survey, the exhibition puts forth a discrete and enriching view into the compelling variation of contemporary artistic practices. From photorealist collage to life drawing, crocheting to expressive painterly gestures, the artists in this exhibition demonstrate a fascinating formal spectrum, and all use the bodily form to explore their diverse and unique modes of creative expression. Two group shows at the gallery – Look at Me Now! (2015) and How Do I Look? (2007) – precede this one as curatorial explorations of the figure; what sets A New Look apart is the current political climate, which serves as a menacing affront to all bodies. This threat only emphasizes the need to amplify and celebrate the plurality of creative voices presented here. For this reason, a portion of all proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood of Illinois, an organization that defends our bodies and our freedoms.
Installation view
SADIE BARNETTE
“In these collages contemporary figures are cut away from their environments and transcend into holographic and glittering expanses that place these characters into galactic, heavenly, ennobled spaces. I photograph people from my life but free them of their known or expected landscapes and allow them to float amidst gleaming reflective surfaces, denuded of all expected cultural signifiers. This is abstraction and poetry in service of everyday magic and survival in America.”
Sadie Barnette (American, b. 1984, Oakland, CA; lives and works in Oakland, CA) earned her BFA from CalArts, Valencia, CA (2006) and her MFA from the University of California, San Diego (2012). Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally at venues including The Studio Museum in Harlem, NY (2017), the California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2016) the Oakland Museum of California, (2016), and Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa (2015). Named as one of the “Black Artists: 30 Contemporary Art Makers Under 40 You Should Know” by the Huffington Post (2013), Barnette has been since been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian UK, Artforum, Artillery Magazine, The Fader, and SFAQ, among other publications. Her work is in the permanent collections of The Pérez Art Museum in Miami, the California African American Museum, and The Studio Museum in Harlem. In 2017 Barnette will have a solo exhibition at the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at the University of California at Davis, and at Fort Gansevoort in New York. She is represented by Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles.
Sadie Barnette Untitled (Blue Shahine), 2017 Collage on glitter paper 15 Âź x 15 Âź inches
Sadie Barnette Untitled (Peace Sign), 2017 Collage on glitter paper 15 Âź x 15 Âź inches
Installation view
ANNA BJERGER
“I mostly work from anonymous photographs found in books and magazines and very rarely have a personal connection to the figures in my paintings. It can be a striking pose, a specific light or an association to something that triggers me to paint the image. Sometimes the figure is used as a device to define a space or scale, and sometimes a figure is removed to enhance the psychological tension in the painting. Figures come with hairstyles and clothes that are indicators of a time and culture. There is sensuousness in painting skin, hair and fabric, which I hope transmits through the application of paint on the surface. The figure in a painting raises questions but the importance doesn’t rest in answers but in the awakened curiosity and engagement that follows.”
Anna Bjerger (b. 1973, Skallsjo, Sweden, lives and works in Småland, Sweden) received her BA in Fine Art from Central St. Martins School of Art and Design, London, UK (1997) and her MA in painting from the Royal College of Art, London, UK (2001). Recent solo exhibitions include David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen, DK (2016); Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stokholm, SE (2015); Galleria Monica Gardenas, Milan, Italy (2014); Fullrsta Gård, Stockholm, Sweden (2013) and Paradise Row, London, UK (2013). Selected group exhibitions include Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, DK (2016); Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Hotel le Manoir, Banyuls sur Mer, FR (2015); Angell Gallery, Toronto, CA (2015); Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, Ireland, (2012); Våxsjo Konsthall, Sweden, (2012); Dublin Contemporary, Dublin, Ireland (2011); Museo de la Ciudad de Querótaro, Mexico, (2011). Bjerger’s works are in the collections of Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (DK), Moderna Museet (SE), Stedelijk Museum (NE), The AkzoNobel Art Foundation (NE), Collectie G+W Sittard (NE), Zabludowicz Collection (UK), Vinunic (SE), Sveriges Radio (SE), Gävle Kommun (SE), Växjo Kommun (SE). She is represented by David Risley Gallery in Sweden.
Anna Bjerger Tip, 2016 Oil on aluminum 23 1/2 x 19 5/8 in.
Anna Bjerger Headless, 2016 Oil on aluminum 27 1/2 x 23 1/2 in.
Installation view
JESSICA CAMPBELL
“The figure is a recent addition to my work. While the majority of the work that I loved and love is figurative, I felt unqualified to introduce the figure in to my own work in a satisfactory way. However, several years ago I began to make comics and other more explicitly narrative work, and it was through this avenue that the figure was introduced to my paintings/drawings/textiles et cetera. I’ve gone through my entire life in a human body, and it is through this body that I think, feel, act, engage with the world. I also have a complicated relationship with my own body, willing it to be thinner or more beautiful or stronger or even invisible, while having to face its inability to do these things to my satisfaction. I feel that my entire life has been centered around coming to terms with my body and its limitations, and it’s this anxiety (my own and that of others) that my work often seeks to make manifest. The contradictory desires to be seen and to be invisible, to be attractive but to be considered as an intellectual/thinker/worker whose body is inconsequential line up with ideas of stand up comedy, which feels to me like a contradictory state of being both supremely vulnerable and in complete control simultaneously, using only the body as a medium for expression. My fascination with stand up comedy impacts the themes of my work, with a brick pattern and humour often running throughout it.”
Jessica Campbell (Canadian, b. 1985, Victoria, BC, lives and works in Chicago, IL) received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2014) and BFA from Concordia University, Montreal, QC (2011). Campbell has recently exhibited solo and two-person exhibitions at The Sub-Mission, Chicago, IL (2016); Roots & Culture, Chicago, IL (2015); Trunk Show, Chicago, IL (2016); and Laroche/Joncas, Montreal, QC, Canada (2012). Recent group exhibitions include The Owens Art Gallery, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada (2017); The College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL (2017); and the Onassis Cultural Center, Athens, Greece (2015). She is a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute and DePaul University, and her most recent book, Hot or Not: 20th Century Male Artists, was released in September 2016.
Jessica Campbell Munch, 2017 Acrylic rug and oil on panel 48 x 36 in.
Installation view
Jessica Campbell Vices Versa, 2017 Acrylic rug and oil on panel 12 x 22 in.
ZOË CHARLTON
“When I consider the question "What does the figure mean to me in my practice?" I am struck by how that query frames a body. The figure is never simply a figure to me. I work specifically with bodies that are known to me—bodies that are familiar because of their gender, sexuality, size, and racial identity. I think about the complexities of a body, and the social or cultural assumptions that are embedded in skin, shape, size, and gender. I rely on the narrative potential of the particular bodies that I represent, understanding that they are valued and perceived differently. Not all bodies are seen in the same way. I consider the economy of each.“
Zoë Charlton (American, b. Tallahassee, FL, 1973; lives and works in Baltimore, MD) received her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin (1999) and her BFA from Florida State University, Tallahassee (1995). She has participated in residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting (2001) and at The Creative Alliance in Baltimore, MD (2003). Charlton’s work has been included in national and international group exhibitions including Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL (2017 and 2013), the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (2015), the Studio Museum of Harlem, NY (2015 and 2012), and the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland (2006). Charlton's work has been reviewed in The Huffington Post, ARTnews, The International Review of African American Art, and Art in America. She was a finalist for the 2015 Sondheim Art Prize, and a semifinalist in 2016. Her residencies include Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C. (2009), Creative Alliance, Baltimore MD (2003). She is an Associate Professor of Art at American University in Washington, DC.
ZoĂŤ Charlton Les Demoiselles (The Great Outdoors), 2017 Graphite, gouache, acrylic paint, and collage on paper 102 x 94 in.
Installation view
ZoĂŤ Charlton Bembe in the Woods, 2017 Graphite, gouache, acrylic paint, 23k gold leaf and vinyl on paper 60 x 41 in.
CHITRA GANESH “I am interested in the materiality of the body itself, as well as how the body operates within a larger set of social and cultural significations. As artists, we can articulate myriad questions and possibilities by speaking with and through the visual language of bodies. For the duration of history, the female figure has functioned as a flashpoint of countless instances of geopolitical conflict, between nations and within their boundaries, be it war, imperialism, or domestic political struggle. Take for example the current discourse around Planned Parenthood, the legitimacy of women’s health coverage, or the invisibility of the disturbing regularity with which black trans women continue to be murdered in the US just in 2017. I’ve recently been reflecting on the work of anthropologist Mary Douglas, whose own thinking has been profoundly inspirational to me.” “The body is a complex structure. The functions of its different parts and their relations afford a source of symbols for other complex structures. We cannot possibly interpret rituals concerning excreta, breast milk, and saliva and the rest unless we are prepared to see the body as a symbol of society, and to see the powers and dangers credited to social structure reproduced in small on the human body.” -Purity and Danger, p.142 Chitra Ganesh (American, b. 1975, Brooklyn, NY, lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) received her BFA from Columbia University, New York (2002), and has since been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally, including solo exhibitions at Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York (2015); The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA (2011), and PS1/MoMA, New York (2009). Her group exhibitions include the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (2015); Boston University Art Galleries, Boston, MA (2016); and the Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA (2007). Ganesh is the recipient of numerous fellowships, and awards, including grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Printed Matter, and the Art Matters Foundation; the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in the Creative Arts; the Lower East Side Printshop Special Editions Residency, the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painters and Sculptors, and is the 2017-2018 recepient of the distinguised Hodder Fellowship from the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. Ganesh’s work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art; Brooklyn Museum; Devi Art Foundation; the Saatchi Collection; Burger Collection; Deutsche Bank, and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Chitra Ganesh Power Girl, 2015 Acrylic, glass, flower ornament, false gold chain and ornament on canvas 28 1/2 x 22 1/2 x 4 in.
Chitra Ganesh The Finger, 2015 Plastic, nylon, clay, peacock feathers and foam on canvas 14 x 11 in.
Installation view
JILLIAN MAYER
“Form is something that exists without us. It is the dynamic and the structure that is already here. We shift around it. Our materials slide by it, and down it. We think we invent new things but we are just adhering to the preexisting forms.“
Jillian Mayer (American, b. 1984, Miami, FL; lives and works in Miami, FL) has exhibited her videos, sculptures, and performances at galleries and museums such as MoMA PS1, MoCA: NoMi, Perez Museum, BAM, Bass Museum, the Contemporary Museum of Montreal with the Montreal Biennial (2014), the Guggenheim Museum and film festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, and the New York Film Festival. Her work has been featured in publications such as Art Papers, ArtNews, Huffington Post and ArtForum. Mayer is a recipient of the Creative Capital Fellowship, South Florida Cultural Consortium's Visual/Media Artists Fellowship, Cintas Foundation Fellowship 2012, and was named one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine. She is also a fellow of the Sundance New Frontiers Lab Program for 2014, a recipient of a Harpo Grant and the Zentrum Paul Klee Fellowship in Bern, Switzerland for 2013. Recent solo shows include Perez Art Museum Miami, David Castillo Gallery and LA><ART.
Jillian Mayer Baby Slumpie 101, 2017 Fiberglass, resin, wood, hardware, oil enamel and acrylic 14 1/2 x 12 x 12 in.
Jillian Mayer Baby Slumpie 102, 2017 Fiberglass, resin, wood, hardware, oil enamel and acrylic 16 x 23 x 14 in.
Jillian Mayer Slumpie Sculpture Promo Video 1, 2016 HD video 2 minutes 46 seconds
Jillian Mayer Slumpie Sculpture Promo Video 2, 2016 HD video 3 minutes 58 seconds
CAROLINE WELLS CHANDLER “When I was fifteen, I bought my first art book, Art Cuba: The New Generation, edited by Holly Block. It was fifty dollars. I had to save up several sessions worth of babysitting money for it. My mom wouldn't buy it for me because of the ticket price and because it contained nudity. This book featured the art I wanted to make. The works were made using the language of folk, everyday materials, vivid color, and was subversively political. For the past fifteen years I have been trying to figure out how to deploy the language of folk specifically from my point of view. I want my work to function similar to John Waters' movie Hairspray. The theater adaption is the most performed play in the Midwest. As a queer non-transitioning trans man I find that thrilling. Very recently my work has become largely figurative. The lack of visibility of bodies representative of my own in art and in culture has lead to this desire. I illustrate queer archetypes of white male heroism, such as the cowboy and warrior, in effort to destabilize the cultural hallucination of the patriarchy. The body is the mediator between hegemonic external norms and one’s internal desires and motives. I'm interested in a figure ground relationship in which the figure is the ground and the ground is the figure. By rejecting the heteronormative, cis gaze, I hope to propose better alternatives for the embodied experience. Materially and politically my work stems out of the feminist craft tradition of the 70's. I work in a variety of materials but my primary way of making is crochet. I am a radical queer feminist installation artist who creates joyful, life affirming environments in dialogue with the history of painting that celebrate sexual deviance, the nonconforming body, and the freak. The materials and processes that I use to make my work are based off of the artifacts of conservative Southern culture. Blankets and quilts from grandma, needlepoint celebrating the home, children's dolls promoting reproduction, heirlooms, family albums, and storytelling all propagandistically function to preserve traditional values. As a queer anthropologist I twist this coded language by celebrating those who are inevitably excluded in such traditions, because they do not reenact and uphold heteronormative values.” Caroline Wells Chandler (American, b. 1985, Norfolk, VA, lives and works in Queens, NY) completed his foundation studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and received a BFA cum laude from Southern Methodist University in 2007. He has shown at numerous institutions including: Roberto Paradise (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Lord Ludd (PA), 11R (NY), The Hole (NY), Zurcher Studio (NY), Danese/Corey (NY), Vox Populi (PA), and the Stieglitz Museum (‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands) among others. Chandler is a 2011 MFA recipient in painting at the Yale School of Art where he was awarded the Ralph Mayer Prize for proficiency in materials and techniques.
on the wall Caroline Wells Chandler Transmitter, 2017 Site-specific installation Dimensions variable
Installation view
Caroline Wells Chandler Transmitter (Red), 2017 Hand-crocheted assorted fibers 114 x 70 in.
Installation view
Caroline Wells Chandler Transmitter (Yellow), 2017 Hand-crocheted assorted fibers 92 x 88 in.
Installation view
Caroline Wells Chandler Transmitter (Blue), 2017 Hand-crocheted assorted fibers 106 x 88 in.
moniquemeloche was founded in October 2000 with an inaugural exhibition titled Homewrecker at Melocheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home, and officially opened to the public in May 2001. Working with an international group of emerging artists in all media, the gallery presents conceptually challenging installations in Chicago and at art fairs internationally with an emphasis on curatorial and institutional outreach.