Generic Art Solutions: Still Death
@ The Franklin
3522 W Franklin Blvd, Chicago, IL 60624
Opening Saturday, February 9th, from 6PM - 8PM
STILL | DEATH
Generic Art Solutions
@ The FRANKLIN
sat. Feb. 9th 6pm – 8pm
In witnessing death, one gains perspective. Despite this reminder of our grim finality, we must continue to live until it is our turn to pass on. The funerary ceremony provides the living a time for reflection and mourning; but life is still life, and death is still death…
These works are a living tribute to both the funerary event, and the lives we live. Though a body has been stilled, there is action all around us; shall we celebrate what once was or what will still be?
We have chosen to invigorate our spirits in this moment; to treat it as a celebration of sorts…
This shall not be a “still death”; no, it shall be a continuation of a joyful and vibrant life!
Generic Art Solutions is the collaborative efforts of Matt Vis and Tony Campbell. This New Orleans-based art duo utilizes nearly every art medium as they examine the recurring themes of human drama and the (dis)functions of contemporary society. Always rooted in the performative, they play every character in their work. In their more distilled “duets” we see something of a yin and yang (a balance between individuals that aren’t quite interchangeable), but in their more elaborate stageings the resultant effect is as epic as the subject matter itself. By combining Classical, Romantic, and Baroque compositional elements with contemporary pictorial techniques, they manage to illuminate the common thread that connects past histories with current events. This strategy creates something of a “Déjà Vu effect” that is driven by drama and surreality with traces of levity. In this dialogue between the past and present the viewer realizes several things: 1) that the history of art is inextricably political, 2) that human behavior repeats itself no matter how tragic or brutal, and 3) that this cycle of repetition must be broken so personal and societal progress can be made. Despite all this, their work contains a glimmer of hope-a hope that through thoughtful examination (and armed with a commitment to change) we can indeed forge a better future.
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Tags: Chicago, East Garfield Park, Generic Art Solutions: Still Death, Matt Vis, The Franklin, Tony Campbell
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