Event

Mystical Menagerie + Radical Geographer: Portrait of my FatherPost an Event »

Swarm Gallery

November 17 - December 24, 2011

Info

560 Second Street Oakland, CA 94607
Google Map »
November 12 - December 23, 2011 Gallery | MYSTICAL MENAGERIE | Laura Ball + Jillian Ludwig Project | Radical Geographer: Portrait of my Father | Michele Pred Reception Thursday, November 17, 2011 6-8pm Swarm Gallery is pleased to present Laura Ball and Jillian Ludwig: Mystical Menagerie, on view from November 12 - December 23, 2011. An installation-based portrait by Michele Pred, Portrait of My Father, will be in the project space. On view in the gallery will be a selection of new works on paper by San Diego-based artist Laura Ball, and Indiana-based artist Jillian Ludwig. The exhibition title, Mystical Menagerie, alludes to the presence and use of animals as symbols reflecting the artists' conceptual leanings. Laura, who received her MFA in painting from UC Berkeley, takes us on an inward journey, crossing thresholds and boundaries of our mental landscape: faults and fears, shortcomings and struggles, and the battle within the self, manifested in corporeal form. Laura paints continuously shifting composites of animals that symbolize pieces of the psyche and the primal nature of our internal impulses. Delicate, yet powerful and precise, the quality of Laura's brushwork matches the fabulous forces encountered in her work. Jillian's work reflects in a calm and gentle manner, an evaluation on the loss of natural faming within westernized culture. Using factory animals wrapped in flowing pink ribbons and balloons, Jillian exercises the conflict between nature and genetically modified food. The short-lived and harsh existence of farmed animals is a sobering discussion. For that reason, the work is constructed in a non-threatening and often playful or humorous manner. The pastel colors and narrative appeal are tactics of gentle persuasion for the awareness of animal treatment and conscious abundance of human consumption. While Laura's work offers an opportunity for introspection, Jillian's work lends itself to an outward awareness of moral codes and practices. In the project space, Berkeley-based artist Michele Pred, creates an homage to her father, who passed away in 2007. Allan Pred was a social scientist and a professor in the Geography department at UC Berkeley for over 40 years. Geographers, he believed, are well-placed to trace the contours of economic, social and military power and must play their part to defend democratic values against such abuses as racism, inequality and violence. His ideas had a huge impact on Michele's art-making. The installation-based portrait is titled Radical Geographer: Portrait of my Father.