Nave Gallery presents AVATARS a two-part exploration curated by Christina Balch, Giuliana Funkhouser and Krista Wright.
AVATARS // ghosts attempts to document the ways that artists represent their bodies, their ideas, their nations, and their dead in today’s digital world where the physical and virtual, human and non-human, self and other, are increasingly intertwined and indistinguishable. “Avatar” is originally a Sanskrit word describing mortal incarnations of Hindu deities. In colloquial use, the term refers to a digital image or 3D character representing an individual on the internet. Drawing inspiration from these concepts, the AVATARS exhibitions are a transdisciplinary exploration of folkloric characters, alter-egos, cyborgs, and incarnations.
AVATARS debuted at the San Francisco Art Institute in fall of 2018. A selection of works from the original San Francisco show will travel to Somerville to continue the thread of the exhibition from its inception and to provide different perspectives from both East and West coast artists.
AVATARS // futures, the second AVATARS exhibition opening April 26, continues the exploration of avatars in new media.
CURATED BY:
Christina Balch, Giuliana Funkhouser and Krista Wright
LOCATION:
Nave Gallery (Teele Square), 155 Powder House Blvd, Somerville, MA
OPENING RECEPTION AND PERFORMANCES:
Friday, March 22, 2019; 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Performances by Xray Aims* and Fine Art Superheroes (by Basil El Halwagy)
Facebook event
*Please note that during Xray’s performance, performers will be piercing and you may see blood.
Curators Talk: Saturday, April 6, 2019; 3:00 pm-5:00 pm
Facebook event
The City of Somerville has generously lifted the parking ban for visitor parking near the gallery during event hours so feel free to drive and park on the street.
EXHIBITION DATES:
Friday, March 22, 2019 – Saturday, April 13, 2019
GALLERY HOURS:
Saturdays and Sundays, 1:00 pm-5:00 pm or by appointment
ARTISTS:
Amayi Morales / Annalisa Oswald / Basil El Halwagy / Caleb Cole / Charity Everett / Christina Balch / Claire Sorosky / Colleen Kiely / Eleanor Schnarr / Elisabeth Eckman / Eliza Phelan-Harder / Giuliana Funkhouser / Heather Caunt-Nulton / Jonathon Nix / Julia Csekö / Karli Janell / Katie Wild / Kels Hyde / Krista Wright / Lauren Kalman / Marco Castaneda / Mark Roemisch / Minjun Kim / Nancy Sepe / Oscar Lopez / Peter Morse / Rachel Shatil / Sally Lee / Selvaggio Dordetti / Shelby Meyerhoff / Skunk / solYchaski / Sue-Yee Leung / Valeriya Volkova / Whitney Humphreys / Xray Aims
ABOUT THE CURATORS:
Christina Balch
Christina Balch is a multimedia artist interested in the way people define themselves digitally, especially through the use of mobile technology and self-documentation. Recently, Christina learned basic programming languages, Javascript and Arduino, and has incorporated engineering into her practice. Christina’s work can be seen locally around the Boston area. In 2016, she curated a performance-based art exhibit called Performing the Home at the Nave Gallery Annex. Christina is based in Somerville and works out of Artisan’s Asylum and Vernon Street Studios. See more of Christina’s work on her website https://christinabalch.com/
Giuliana Funkhouser
Giuliana Funkhouser (or GFunk for short) is a professional multimedia artist. It has been a great pleasure and fortune for her to have worked alongside a variety of colorful entertainment and marketing industry giants over the course of her career. Her artwork interrogates contemporary mass media entertainment and “content delivery” platforms that simultaneously draw people together while ripping communities apart in unprecedented ways. She hopes to raise awareness about the people and environments continually pushed to the wayside in the name of technological progress, economic expansion and the siren song of paradise. See more of Giuliana’s work on her website: http://www.gfunkhouser.net/
Krista Wright
Krista Wright is a multimedia artist making work that transports viewers into her imagination land. Hailing from the Southern Californian Suburbs, Krista Wright spent her childhood playing pretend, playstation, and watching cartoons, all in which showcased the different realities that could exist and the possibility to make one’s own. Today she works with screenprint, sculpture, painting, and stop-motion animation to bring those possibilities to life. Her work is an Art of Escapism, but also adventure. See more of Krista’s work on her website: https://kristawrista.art/
