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Opening Reception: Thursday June 2nd, 6-10 pm
For Aaron Terry’s second solo exhibition at Ever Gold Gallery the artist will transform the space into an installation where the viewer becomes part of a massive common story that will evolve during the duration of the exhibition. Akin to composing music like a DJ’s set-list, the transformed, cave-like gallery, will presents a space full of the ingredients key to a collective narrative, including historical characters, social and political factors, wit, angst, and contemporary players - the audience. Much like a mask or costume, the viewer is housed in a space where one’s awareness can shift into subtle yet recognizable tales that question individual roles in collective social and historical identity. In a time when daily narratives are delivered as one liners on Facebook, Terry’s installation reminds the viewer that histories, stories, and mythologies are actually full of subtleties and complex ingredients, and investigates if we, in the face of a lacking social narrative, can formulate our own story with costumes, masks and participatory installation.
Costumery, masking identity, and positioning of self within the context of stories are paramount themes in the exhibition. Terry’s alter ego, the Urban Yetti (a mythical character borne from Terry’s childhood uprooting from living on remote land with no running water or electricity with Beat/survivalist parents, to an adolescence spent in urban Philly) reappears throughout the exhibition, but this time with a variety of artists donning the costume and submitting evidence of their own experience. This assignment, to receive, wear, and act in the Yetti costume, happened over a six month period where musicians and actors to visual artists and taxidermists interpreting their experience and presenting Terry with imagery that feeds his latest prints. It brings to mind the potential for one to assume personalities or identities, even for a short period of time. From Carnival to revolution, masks and dress have revealed and obscured identity, social positions, mockery and metamorphosis. In this exhibition, Terry questions the potential to create a contemporary narrative, generated from various perspectives, generated through a web of collaborations.
Aaron Terry grew up as a kid with no electricity or running water in the woods of Upstate New York until fate brought his family to Philadelphia, where he grew into the city as a young adult. His biggest fear as a child was nuclear war or a bear attack. Terry’s work has been shown in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon and the Bay Area. He currently lives in the Redwood groves of Canyon, CA. His current fears include Nuclear radiation and Mountain Lion attacks or falling trees. He holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and currently teaches at the California College of the Arts and SFAI.
