The Distillery Gallery presents:
Viva Sputa: work by Melanie Blood, Corey Corcoran & Daniel Szymanowski
January 6 - February 17, 2010
contact: Scott Chasse, gallery director
gallery@distilleryboston.com
The Distillery Gallery is pleased to present Viva Sputa, an exhibition of work by Boston-based artists Melanie Blood, Corey Corcoran, and Daniel Szymanowski. Working in variety of media in both two and three dimensions, the artists of this exhibit seek to capture a spirit of ambivalence for the natural world. Tangled wildflowers bind heaps of bone. Benign playgrounds become mysterious wastelands. Alluring organic forms are equally noxious. An expression coined by Samuel Beckett, "viva sputa" alludes to the corporal muck that however repulsive remains integral to the fabric of our world. Notions of permanence and progress may sag, fade, and rot from the inside-out, but from this decay new growth emerges.
The work shown by Melanie Blood is derived from initial ideas pertaining to impermanence. Fragments build upon one another and are often held together by a common thread. The pieces exist in space yet are vulnerable to the toxicity of the outside world. Some remain brave and unharmed, while others are dependant on another variable. Narratives emerge that describe cycles and systems that exist amongst us. Melanie is currently working on her Masters Degree in Art Teaching at Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and resides in Jamaica Plain.
Drawing upon everything from science fiction to houseplants to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Corey Corcoran’s recent body of work depicts visual ecosystems on the verge of collapse. Half-dead bodies fill transitory spaces that ooze with decay. Figures are both gods of destruction and biological fodder for new growth. Texture, color and pattern become the primordial soup from which notions of progress or devolution are born.
Daniel Szymanowski’s chosen subject matter is commonplace, often-referencing objects and notions widely aestheticized or made sentimental (sports, leisure, pastoral imagery, etc.). Crossing boyhood whimsy with tired skepticism, the paintings accept the possibility that we exist in a mysterious world, which may offer no answer.
Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, January 6, 6-9pm.