June 22 — August 14 , 12–8 p.m.
Out of the Abyss is a three-channel video installation by Jonathan Monaghan, where a magically candy-colored yet haunting world recreates our fears and anxieties about the hi-tech future. The artist criticizes Capitalism, the widespread use of surveillance systems and big brands culture, at the same time drawing the viewer's attention to the dangerously fading boundaries between natural and artificial.
The provocative video work combines the attributes of today’s consumerist society with the biblical story of the Apocalypse. Traditional images of the four horsemen appear as the terrifying beasts of modernity in bright purple armor. Adorned with security cameras and riot gear, they are also equipped with everyday life objects — selfie pods and a yoga carpet that become mythological symbols.
‘You can think of my work as therapy for an uncertain future, — Monaghan says. — I am asking my viewers to consider what the future might look like if we continue on our current trajectory. I also want to understand what in our human nature has allowed ourselves to arrive at such a fraught and fragile moment’.
Produced in collaboration with Anna Nova Gallery. Free admission.
About the artist
Jonathan Monaghan is american visual artist who works across a range of media, such as prints, sculpture, and animation, to produce otherworldly objects and narratives. Drawing on wide-ranging sources, such as historical artworks and science fiction, his fantastical pieces uncover subconscious anxieties associated with technology and consumerism.
His work has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Spazio Ridotto in Venice, and Market Gallery in Glasgow. Group exhibitions include those at The Palais de Tokyo in Paris, New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival, The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Ars Electronica, and Postmasters Gallery in New York.
His work has also been acquired by numerous public and private art collections, including The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Washington, D.C., Art Bank Collection.
Anna Nova Gallery — is currently one of the leading galleries in Russia. The gallery actively supports original and innovative interdisciplinary art practices, producing research-based projects and large-scale installations. In the past few years the gallery has expanded its activities and now aims to discover and promote young artists who work with urgent cultural issues and challenges that our society faces today.
