Exhibition

The You Inside of Me: 2012 MFA Exhibit

Duration

March 24, 2012 - April 22, 2012

Artists

Jonathan Armistead, Agnes Bolt, Sung Rok Choi, Jesse England, Riley Harmon, Oscar Peters, Nina Sarnelle

"The Magnificent Seven

Unpredictability is one of the joys of art. Just when you think you have seen everything; just when you think you have got it all figured out; along comes Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Mutt’s Fountain, Campbell’s Soup Cans, and The Physical Impossibility Of Death In The Mind of Someone Living.

Here it comes again. This group of seven artists are certainly not bound by convention, and enjoy ruffling sensibilities, and posing awkward questions with their work. They each have very different practices, but what unites them is the exploratory nature of their approach, their irreverent (yet intensely serious) attitude, the critical rigor which they have developed in their three years at Carnegie Mellon, as well as the mutual respect and the supportive bond which they have formed, through the highs and lows of this MFA experience. I will miss their pizzazz and good humor. WTF will they do next?"

- John Carson
Head of the School of Art + Regina and Marlin Miller Professor,
Carnegie Mellon University

Jonathan Armistead is interested in re-making everyday objects, in order to reveal the world as he sees it, prompting the viewer to re-examine their current reality. He seeks to highlight an often dormant sexuality that exists within our everyday and uncover La Vie en Rose. His own body becomes object and objectified, revealing the performative nature of identity. With tongue firmly in cheek, Jonathan hopes to eradicate shame, and celebrate life's simple pleasures in the most honest way possible.

Jonathan Armistead

Agnes Bolt uses a non-linear process to conflate sincerity and cynicism, desire and freedom, reality and performativity. Through larger interdisciplinary projects and smaller gestures she explores psycho-social behavior, cultural paradoxes and the absurdities and limitations of communication often by implicating herself in the process.

Agnes Bolt

Sung Rok Choi explores memories, history, politics, and technology by mashing-up historical, anthropological, and political assertions. He uses fictional and satirical storytelling through flash animation, drawing, and installation. His work blurs multiple political events and creates absurd animated landscapes.

Sung Rok Choi

Jesse England creates custom-built gadgets, books, and cameras to explore the issues surrounding contemporary image consumption and generation. What does “media ownership” mean in an era where there is no physical media to own? England presents a variety of projects which address how we make and consume media today; forget the synthetic degeneration and go for the real artifice.

Jesse England

Riley Harmon examines multiple layers of reality and representation through appropriating and detouring popular media such as films, video games, and television. He reverse-engineers social and personal narratives and the final output is often hyperreal videos, objects, and performance.

Riley Harmon

Oscar Peters creates work as part of his ongoing research into the illusion of America; part joke and part autobiography. His sculptures move from physical violence to psychological danger: exploring our drive for speed, fear, adrenaline, repetition, crashes, and breakdowns. Dangerous yet funny, his works reveal a sense of elegance on one hand and the inevitability of getting your ass handed to you on the other.

Oscar Peters

Nina Sarnelle makes fantasies, miracles and lies. Her performances explore the physicality of metaphysics, and the malleability of belief. She believes in solutions-based solutions, lateral connectivity, truth by consensus; she believes in acid reflux. And things beyond her control. This is why she never works alone.

Nina Sarnelle