Until My Darkness Goes…
Group Show
June 27 – August 2, 2009
Opening Saturday, June 27 6-9 pm

LMAKprojects is pleased to present Until My Darkness Goes… a group show of six international artists; Jowan van Barneveld, Tom Bogaert, Johan De Wilde, Katie Holten, Russell Nachman, and Carlos Rigau.  This exhibit takes a look at the varied use of the color black; besides being a striking monochromatic pigment it weighs heavy in metaphors and meaning.  Its interpretations are endless and varied as for some it stands for mourning and death by others it is used to express knowledge and intellectual achievement.

Jowan van Barneveld (Dutch) appropriates images related to his personal experiences and fascinations, often touching on the world of music, into haunting black on black paintings. Both his renouncement of color and his use of paint result in his work having an impersonal quality. As he tries to 'erase' his mark through layers of glazed acrylic he is able to fully submerge into the work. His depictions vary from literal landscapes to depictions of the stage-set of his band Viberider, yet each relays a strong sensibility of light and composition.

Before dedicating his life to his art practice, Tom Bogaert (Belgian) documented genocide and human rights abuses in Africa and Asia for Amnesty International and the UN refugee agency. He will be showing a piece from his series Collines au Mille Souris (Hills of a Thousand Mice) which refers to the Malthusian theory that states that genocide is the preordained result of the impersonal forces of poverty and over-population. Bogaert’s work addresses the collision of human rights, entertainment and propaganda. The sculptures are composed of black mice-shaped licorice candy (Belgium’s national candy), representing the duality of overzealous creatures, and the bittersweet reality of humanity.

Johan De Wilde (Belgian) sees the world in tonalities, his imagery are scenes of stories that waver.  The exploration of graphite offers an unending realm of possibilities, De Wilde feels that white is the exclusion of possibilities against which imagery is created.  His work is an alias, an ensemble of history relayed in a moment.  Exhibited is a selection of his prolifically rendered and crafted graphite drawings.

Katie Holten’s (Irish) work focuses on the ecological and relays to us the various scenarios of decay that we inflict on the earth.  Uprooted is confrontational yet eerily beautiful as banal material like newspaper and wire are transformed into an elegant presence.  Tackling subjects of death and decay Holten's work relays a beauty and offers glimpses of salvation.

Russell Nachman (American) use of allegory serves his critical, and sometimes harsh, look at his roots as well as our culture at large. Known for his watercolors of discarded Utopian dreams Russell's work now enters a new chapter in his expanding narrative, depicting figures that can be seen as one step farther down the road of disillusionment. Nachman uses the trappings of Black Metal culture to portray a harlequin for our time. The Black Metal tradition is one of contradictions, steeped in rebellion and hedonism, yet seeking absurdly antiquated notions of purity and truth. Nachman's modern day jesters, seen as buffoons of Black Metal, become unwitting relaters of an unspoken truth -- the folly behind all our masks.

Carlos Rigua (Cuban-American) recent work is an examination of guilt, retribution, and atonement through use of classic symbols of American history and stereotype.  Throughout his various narratives Rigua repeatedly makes use of a clown to relay and uncover the least desirable and darker elements of human nature.  In his two-channel video titled Secrets of the Unknown, we view a clown trying to go through the alphabet while below him two hands try to emanate and create the human form.  The neon colors are set off against black backgrounds disorienting the viewer and emulating the disorientation of the clown, this experience is enhanced by the floor piece titled I Wish There Was, in which hazed letters spells the sentence “I Wish There Was Nothing” and becomes an unsettling ground.

Until My Darkness Goes…will be on view from Saturday June 27 until Sunday August 2nd 2009.  Our gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday 11-6 and Sunday 12-6, if you need additional material or have questions please do not hesitate to contact us at the information found below.