Natureversus Nurture
A GroupEhibition Curated by Bonnie Gloris at Broadway Gallery NYC
November1st - 15th, 2010. Opening Reception: Thursday, November 4th, 6:00 -8:00 PM
Human self-domestication has surged with the rapiddevelopment of modern society, yet we remain tethered to our wild naturalhistory. Evolution lags behind domestication, and continues to drive us withprimitive instincts. “Nature versus Nurture” collects images that depict thetension between opposing forces, one wild and one domestic, that characterizethe human psyche.
Stephen Chopek’s stylishly straightforward collage Beauty represents the idea by juxtaposingan ancient skull with contemporary, lipstick primped lips. Similarly, Chopek’s Domestic combines an antiquated, fur-ladenman with a modern appliance: the dishwasher. Chopek’s use of strikinglyimprobable images enhances the contrast between the primitive and thedomesticated that are entwined within each of us.
Tim Okamura’s painting Siobhan (Whispering) illustrates the close relationshipbetween the wild and domestic forces of human personality by repeating the subject in twoforms. Their mutual entanglement is evident as one personality whispersdeviously into the ear of the other. The sly smile on the recipient’s facetells us she is getting a diabolical idea. Often our two selves, the wild andthe domestic, are conceived as being two faces of one moral coin; the one goodand the other evil – although it is not always clear which is which. Thisduality is echoed by Okamura’s backdrops of urban graffiti, which evokes thetension between modern city life and our untamed past. Okamura’s new paintingsfor “Nature vs. Nurture” are an extension of this theme.
“Sitting,” a series of photographs by RogerSayre, also seeks to represent the multiple personalities that exist withineach of us. Sayre uses a pinhole camera to make a portrait of each subject, theexposure occurring over the course of an hour, which creates “a likeness of the sitter that ispossibly truer than a traditional fraction-of-a-second photograph or snapshot.One cannot hold any single expression for the span of an hour; instead, allexpressions are merged into one image. The sitter's essence, distilled overtime, is revealed” (Sayre, rogersayre.com). Sayreis able to concentrate the opposing forces contending within each sitter intosingularly haunting photographs.
From the symbolic to the literal, each of the artists inthis exhibition explore how the disparate aspects of human nature coexistwithin us, in a way that is individually unique, yet cohesive in theirnarrative quality and dark undertones. In addition to the aforementionedartists, the exhibition will include George Bates, Greg Brickey, Niina Cochran,Linda Rae Coughlin, Jordan Eagles, Bonnie Gloris, Jordin Isip, Lau GallicoKlohe, Chang Park, Nathan Pickett, D. Jack Solomon, and Kelly Vetter, whosework will support the theme of the exhibition through various mediums,including 2-D, 3-D, and sketchbook work.
Much as a character in a cartoon that has an angelstanding on one shoulder and a devil on the other, we must constantly decidewhich side to listen to. Why is the domesticated self more prevalent in some,while the primitive self dominates others? Is one, in fact, more desirable thanthe other? These are the questions explored in “Nature versus Nurture.”
A GroupEhibition Curated by Bonnie Gloris at Broadway Gallery NYC
November1st - 15th, 2010. Opening Reception: Thursday, November 4th, 6:00 -8:00 PM
Human self-domestication has surged with the rapiddevelopment of modern society, yet we remain tethered to our wild naturalhistory. Evolution lags behind domestication, and continues to drive us withprimitive instincts. “Nature versus Nurture” collects images that depict thetension between opposing forces, one wild and one domestic, that characterizethe human psyche.
Stephen Chopek’s stylishly straightforward collage Beauty represents the idea by juxtaposingan ancient skull with contemporary, lipstick primped lips. Similarly, Chopek’s Domestic combines an antiquated, fur-ladenman with a modern appliance: the dishwasher. Chopek’s use of strikinglyimprobable images enhances the contrast between the primitive and thedomesticated that are entwined within each of us.
Tim Okamura’s painting Siobhan (Whispering) illustrates the close relationshipbetween the wild and domestic forces of human personality by repeating the subject in twoforms. Their mutual entanglement is evident as one personality whispersdeviously into the ear of the other. The sly smile on the recipient’s facetells us she is getting a diabolical idea. Often our two selves, the wild andthe domestic, are conceived as being two faces of one moral coin; the one goodand the other evil – although it is not always clear which is which. Thisduality is echoed by Okamura’s backdrops of urban graffiti, which evokes thetension between modern city life and our untamed past. Okamura’s new paintingsfor “Nature vs. Nurture” are an extension of this theme.
“Sitting,” a series of photographs by RogerSayre, also seeks to represent the multiple personalities that exist withineach of us. Sayre uses a pinhole camera to make a portrait of each subject, theexposure occurring over the course of an hour, which creates “a likeness of the sitter that ispossibly truer than a traditional fraction-of-a-second photograph or snapshot.One cannot hold any single expression for the span of an hour; instead, allexpressions are merged into one image. The sitter's essence, distilled overtime, is revealed” (Sayre, rogersayre.com). Sayreis able to concentrate the opposing forces contending within each sitter intosingularly haunting photographs.
From the symbolic to the literal, each of the artists inthis exhibition explore how the disparate aspects of human nature coexistwithin us, in a way that is individually unique, yet cohesive in theirnarrative quality and dark undertones. In addition to the aforementionedartists, the exhibition will include George Bates, Greg Brickey, Niina Cochran,Linda Rae Coughlin, Jordan Eagles, Bonnie Gloris, Jordin Isip, Lau GallicoKlohe, Chang Park, Nathan Pickett, D. Jack Solomon, and Kelly Vetter, whosework will support the theme of the exhibition through various mediums,including 2-D, 3-D, and sketchbook work.
Much as a character in a cartoon that has an angelstanding on one shoulder and a devil on the other, we must constantly decidewhich side to listen to. Why is the domesticated self more prevalent in some,while the primitive self dominates others? Is one, in fact, more desirable thanthe other? These are the questions explored in “Nature versus Nurture.”
