Futuristic Fantasia is a show that features digital based artworks by Mecca Alim. The show is on display at The College of New Rochelle Mooney Center Gallery. It will be on exhibition between March 11th and April 10th, 2016. Futuristic Fantasia includes a variety of graphic design prints and a video. As you enter the gallery, you are drawn to a wall full of 36 inch tall prints. Across from that there are two works. The first includes a variety of smaller prints arranged in a pyramid formation and the second is a poster that comments on the domestic violence in Afghanistan. The final wall has a television that plays a short film on loop as well as several printed stills from the video. The various types of strokes and techniques Alim uses makes these prints and images feel very much as though they were drawn or painted with traditional materials such as charcoal, graphite or watercolors, rather than computer programs. This paradox makes the art visually intriguing and draws me in as a viewer. Two themes that are evident when walking through the show are personality and sexual identity. Many prints in the show appear to be portraits of individuals. This is seen in the work “Buddy Wall” (2015-2016), which includes several small prints in a pyramid formation, seems to represent different identities and personalities of particular people Alim is or was close to personally. In contrast, the larger works, such as “Confrontation” (2015), feature individuals who seem to represent the image of particular types of attitudes or personalities. The size of these works creates a sense of monument, presenting these people as pillars of historical importance in expression of physical or sexual identity. The viewer is then compelled to see these individuals as, perhaps, heroic figures of legend. The work, “V.D. Version 1” (2015), in particular, emphasizes the power of sexuality and asserting that sexuality. The figure in this piece looks like a creature from mythology. The luster of the creature’s skin is unnaturally shinny and there is a glow around him, her, or they. However, it appears as though this creature has a vagina enlarged to the length of the individual’s torso with teeth or thorns. The striking association with the female genitalia, the graphic elements applied to the image and the large size make the work a firm statement of female sexuality as powerful. Overall, Futuristic Fantasia invites the viewer to investigate and challenge his or her established definitions of what gender and sexuality can be. Image #1 Top
"V.D Version 1" (2016) 24 x 36 inches Image #2 Left "Buddy Wall" (2015-2016) 40 x 50 inches Image #3 Right " Confrontation (2015) 24 x 36 inches
1 Comment
4/18/2016 08:13:02 pm
Thank you very much for the review!! Much appreciated and I agreed with everything you said! You inspire me to improve in the future! <3
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Emily B. PosnerNew York based artist and editor. Archives
November 2016
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