Songs Of Praise For The Heart Beyond Cure July 26, 2008

DEBORAH JOHNSON & SIEBREN VERSTEEG
DUKE & BATTERSBY
MELISSA SCHERRER
JENNY PERLIN

SONGS OF PRAISE FOR THE HEART BEYOND CURE

JULY 26 - AUGUST 23, 2008

Please join us Saturday, July 26th from 8-10 p.m. as Art Palace presents Songs of Praise for the Heart Beyond Cure. The exhibition, curated by Katie Geha, presents videos by New York artists Duke & Battersby, Jenny Perlin, Deborah Johnson, Siebren Versteeg, and Melissa Scherrer. Drawings by Melissa Scherrer will be on view in the front galleries.

In our contemporary moment of globalism, where the mass market and the media constantly and relentlessly gauge who we are and how we live our lives, many people have turned to a variety of forms of introspection in search of their spiritual selves and a sense of authenticity amidst all the white noise. Ironically, merchandizing has tapped into the yearnings behind this return to the individual and to nature. Products are now marketed as "green." Self-help books tout the power of positive thinking, and sales claims blur the boundaries between the search for self and the loud blare of capitalist mass consumerism.

A common question the works on view seem to ask is how do we straddle these impulses; how do we reconcile the individual and the collective?

This suite of videos and drawings examines spirituality and materiality in light of our media driven culture. The works mix nature and psychedelia, yogic chants with teenage angst, and dystopian fair rides with a hand-written history of the mall. Exhibited together, the works reflect the anxiety and weirdness of our contemporary moment.

Official Website: http://www.artpalacegallery.com