This Means War: Opening Night Party

From Unspeakable Projects: "One venerable arts institution organized its recent programming around the concept of Bridging the Gap--a notion that conceives of art as social problem-solving and of the artist as progressive civic savior. Amen to that. But what happens if instead of bridging the gap we flip the bird? Is there a productive trouble-making in picking a fight? Whose side are you on, anyway? THIS MEANS WAR explores the spirit of confrontation in the work of five emerging artists across a range of media. Works by Hannah Ireland, Justin Limoges, Matt Momchilov, AMTK, Steffani Jemison.

Hanna Ireland’s site-specific installation explores the act of claiming physical and visual space—and what happens when we vie for the same contested ground. Justin Limoges’ ink drawings and linocuts represent objects, if not at outright war, then held in precarious détentes. Filled with tipping points, standoffs and dubious instructions—like how to kill your nemesis— the works on paper teeter between humor and open aggression. Matt Momchilov documents contemporary subcultures, from urban warehouse parties to fetish conventions, and their exuberant and sometimes violent ends. Rendered in a photo-realistic style that evokes tabloid snapshots, his series of oil paintings celebrates spontaneous moments of bad behavior. AMTK are a collaborative duo creating large-format paintings in a process that’s equal parts diplomacy and sabotage. Overwriting traditional portraiture with tribal motifs and alien figures, they produce dense vistas of subjects aiming cool judgement at the viewer. Steffani Jemison’s found-image installation pits pop culture against high art in a diptych of near life-sized light boxes. A call to arms and also to the party."