Artillery Magazine Pick of the Week: MORPH
 ANNABEL OSBERG, ARTILLERY MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 19, 2019

“Celebrate the Bizarre,” urges the header on postcards for “Morph” at Mash Gallery; and the 12 artists in this show surely do. More specifically, they revel in distorting human form for metaphoric and emotive effects. Heads are sundered, patched, and obliterated; bodies float, contort, and mutate into things that may or may not be human. In Erik Mark Sandberg‘s portrayals, skin turns to radioactive pink spaghetti; but that doesn’t stop the protagonist of Sky with Leopard Print Tee and Boots (2011) from sporting nifty fashions. Creepy doll-like faces emerge in 3D relief from Haleh Mashian‘s expressionistic paintings of inscrutable goddesses; with morbid pulchritude, works such as Galene, Goddess of Calm Seas (2019) question Greco-Roman conceptions of female deities as archetypes of beauty. Molly Morning-Glory‘s two-faced ceramic bust, You, Me, We (2018), brings to mind how individuals’ self-images are shaped by the gaze of others; nearby, Jayne Anita Smith‘s figures lose their volition and devolve into gobs of mud, clay or paint. Most viscerally disturbing are Serge Serum‘s paintings influenced by his upbringing in violent neighborhoods. I’m not sure what’s going on in Possessed at Harms Length (2019, pictured above), but I don’t think I want to be; and I certainly wouldn’t want to be there.

Share

Related

Accessibility Toolbar

Join our mailing list

Stay up to date with our latest news, events, and exhibitions!

We will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.

Inquire about the artwork

Please fill out the form and we will check the availability of the artwork for you

Name(Required)
If you have any other questions regarding this piece of art please let us know.
Subscribe to our newsletter(Required)
Privacy(Required)
In order to respond to your inquiry, we will process the personal data you have supplied to communicate with you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe or change your preferences anytime by clicking the link in our emails.