Styleheads/ Ornamentalismschmentialism/ Exoticaschmatica -or-
Who's Afraid of Pattern and Decoration?
July 1 - August 11, 2010
Kathleen Cullen is pleased to announce the group exhibition "Who's Afraid of Pattern and Decoration?" running from July 1 through August 11, 2010.
"In fact, while Pattern and Decoration has often been seen as a rebellion against the austere rigors of late modernism, a way of reclaiming simpler and more spontaneous pleasures, the patterning impulse can just as easily be seen as proceeding from one of the bases of modernist aesthetics."
Chris Bogia
The sculptures themselves are intricate hand-made yarn renderings, found furnishings and decorative objects, constructed furniture and ephemera. I curate the objects into a sort of shrine or altar in the vernacular of interior design (trends ranging from the 1950s to the present), and the people who live with them.
The photos reflect a more personal narrative, usually depicting myself, sometimes with a model performing an action performing within the space of each sculpture. The actions depicted are often aesthetisized interpretations of the kinds of rituals associated with gay sex. The poses reference classical forms of devotion, traditional gay sex (poppers, enemas, etc.), intuitive movement and camp.
Catherine Lan
I utilize fashion elements to explore themes of female identitiy. I use collage and assemblage techniques to create a Boroque-style structure of folded fabric that deconstructe the pop mythos of classical narrative characters.
Julie Philips
My paintings are "elegant remnants" which evoke a sense of old-world beauty and something that has witnessed the passing of time. My technique creates a contradiction that is both historical and contemporary in it's overall effect.