Fictitious Truths - Exercises in Realism

Eric Doeringer    Carol Hepper    Sarah McDougald Kohn    Liz Nielsen    Ryan Roa    Henry Sanchez    Arlene Shechet

In 1943, employed as a dive-bomber for the German military, Joseph Beuys was shot down by Russian flak in a snowstorm over the Crimea region—and one of the art world’s greatest fictions was born. Indeed, throughout history, the cloak and dagger of illusion has reigned in the world of art. In the momentary slippage between image/text, the slightest shift of a frame, or the interaction of subject with object, a world of possibilities presents itself.

In probing the limits of visibility we have found that most things are in fact, unseen. As we feel for it in shadows and hidden corners, reality tauntingly leers back at us. How we choose to answer that challenge is both an exercise in personal fortitude and creative flexibility. Such action’s residual objects, the fleeting anchors of a distant reality, are those of another world – one where the organic fuses with the mechanical, nature and technology coalesce and fact irreparably merges with fiction. The works in Fictitious Truths live within that intermediary space, in its flexibility, subjectivity and potential for alternatives.  Culling from a variety of mediums—sculpture and photography, video and installation—the conceptual nature of the work presented examines such topics as the exploration of personal identity, the analysis of consumer culture (and by extension the art market), and the re-creation of political histories. It is not only the blurring of space and time that interests these artists but also the notion of shifting focus—from what we perceive to be around us to what is actually present—for if we are destined to fumble ceaselessly in the dark, a flashlight is always a good idea.

-Kara L. Rooney

Featured artists include: Eric Doeringer, Carol Hepper, Sarah McDougald Kohn, Liz Nielsen, Ryan Roa, Henry Sanchez and Arlene Shechet.


ROOSTER GALLERY, 190 ORCHARD STREET, NYC
OPENING RECEPTION: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 6 - 8PM
EXHIBITION DATES:  OCTOBER 25 - DECEMBER 2, 2012


For additional info please visit www.roostergallery.com