"Too Bright to Feel" at Mixed Media Space

Mixed Media Space is no small trek from New York, where I usually report from, but their current show was worth the trip. I was able to catch the space's second exhibition, Too Bright to Feel, a group show featuring six artists: Amy Podmore, John LaMacchia, Mia Ntenta, Pap Souleye Fall, Pablo Garcia Lopez, and Nebojsa Seric Shoba. The exhibition engages visitors in a dialogue surrounding humanity, cycles, and consumption.

Nebojsa Seric Shoba, E PLURIBUS UNUM, epoxy resin, paint, wood, 2013 NFS 40in diameter, edition of 3. Image courtesy of Mixed Media Space.

The artists John LaMacchia, Nebojsa Seric Shoba, and Mia Ntenta confront these themes more overtly. Shoba reinterprets America's borders in State of the Union, a sculpture work created with red and blue clothespins, reminiscent of the colors associated with America's two major political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. He also critiques the cycle of a nation through the work E PLURIBUS UNUM. The piece is a large rotating coin with the words "BONDAGE", "FAITH”, “COURAGE”, “LIBERITY”, “ABUNDANCE”, “ COMPLACENCY”, “APATHY”, and “DEPENDENCE” around its edges, and “E PLURIBUS UNUM”, which translates to out of many, one, is written in its center.

LaMacchia references a paper plate’s imagery, the type that is commonly seen at a party, in the three works Despair, Destruction, and Death. He hijacks this cultural symbol of celebration to question an opulent nation’s relationship with, as in the title and printed on the works, despair, destruction, and death. The juxtaposition of bright, saturated colors with these words creates a tension that confronts a culture of consumption and its broader effects.

Mia Ntenta, Imaginary Social Objects, oil stick, pastel, 24k gold leaf, and color pencil on cotton paper cut-outs, 315 in x 157 in. Image courtesy of Mixed Media Space.

Ntenta creates a wall of characters rich with expressions in Imaginary Social Objects. The work is suspended from the ceiling to the floor and has about six layers. It explores identity, authenticity, and relationships through the curation of self in the digital age, examining its consequences for authentic interactions and community.

While Amy Podmore, Pap Souleye Fall, and Pablo Garcia Lopez, enter the dialog through naturalists forms. Podmore uses fallen branches in FALL and animatronics of a girl within PLUMB to create uncanny sculptures, which subtly depart from the norm to create an eerie atmosphere. Her sculpture, PLUMB, explores the concept of surveillance. While FALL is created with fallen tree branches and little red socks attached to its tips. The sculpture crawls on the wall and floor, and raises topics surrounding the autonomy of nature.

The relationship between the natural world and the body is also explored in Fall’s work KEYEDUPKEYEDOUT. He creates a large green patchwork cloth with varying tones, similar to the bird’s-eye view of agricultural fields, with the human form jutting out from the piece. Within these two artists’ work, the human is in the land and the land is in the human. The push and pull of humanity’s relationship with nature is brought into question within these works.

Pablo Garcia Lopez, Neuralink DIY- Venus Cyborg, silk and stainless steel, 38 in x 38in x 28in.  Image courtesy of Zafir Buraei.

Lopez's use of stainless steel and silk, which closely resembles human hair, in Neuralink DIY 05(Venus cyborg) melds together technology and humanity. The work reads as a futuristic humanoid; its purpose or function isn’t clearly legible, yet it possesses an imposing otherworldly air. The stainless steel is manipulated to create a natural form that resembles a shell. The silk part of the structure then protrudes outwards with an elegant form. The combination of materials evoked questions surrounding the integration of technology into one’s being and its progression to becoming inseparable.

The diverse styles of each artist blend together to confront current issues in various layers of society. Together, they use their artistic language to uncover the opulence of modern times and the decay that lies beneath the surface.