The Subversionary: A Secret Alliance with Chaos is a solo art exhibition featuring a multimedia installation by SteviAnn Matijevic. It will be on view at the Mooney Center Gallery at The College of New Rochelle, 29 Castle Place New Rochelle, NY 10805, from October 29th to November 20th, 2016. Through themes of time, conspiracy, and confinement, The Subversionary: A Secret Alliance with Chaos appears to comment on the contemporary concern of corrupt individuals being in power and suggests that we live in a state of illusory free will and control. Upon entering the gallery, viewers will note the variety in media used; however, Matijevic’s distinct style and approach to art makes the installation successfully cohesive. Plaster and mesh wire structures which mimic human forms stand, hang or lie in the center of the room, two-dimensional works are displayed unframed on the walls, and a video is projected onto a single plaster “body” that stands amid one wall of two-dimensional works. The plaster forms of the installation are not bodies. They instead imitate fabric drapery, bringing to mind Ancient Greek or Roman attire. The viewer may infer from this that unseen individuals are or were standing in this procession that Matijevic has created, or recreated as proposed by her artist statement. The parallel between the ancient world and the plaster forms displayed here, present day, creates a reference to and theme of time in the exhibition. This is then reinforced by the predominant use of black, white and grey throughout the show. The wire bodies that hang and lie in the center of the room are displayed in a manner that seems almost sacrificial. With this inference, the two-dimensional works that fill the gallery rapidly take on a new meaning. The eyes from the drawings, all of which appear to be various types of portraits, seem to eerily watch viewers as they move through the space. The patterns and forms created by the materials of charcoal and ink in these works start to look more like bars, constraints on others who have also been sacrificed by these plaster beings (perhaps the demagogues referenced in Matijevic’s artist statement). The fact that the drawings have titles such as Sister, Father, and Mary Magdalene, points to the notion that these works may represent entities rather than specific individuals and exist as representational archetypes that have endured the passage of time confined, warning the viewer of the predetermined fates that await all those who follow bearing the same name or title. The Subversionary: A Secret Alliance with Chaos is an exceptional show that showcases Matijevic’s clear ability and skill, not only in developing a rich conceptual installation, but in creating individual works of art.
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Emily B. PosnerNew York based artist and editor. Archives
November 2016
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