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Maria Cristina Jadick: Ready to Rumble?

Presented by G gallery at G gallery

July 3-July 25, 2010

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The G Gallery in the Heights presents Maria Cristina Jadick: Ready to Rumble? Opening Reception is July 3, 2010 6:00 until 8:00. Show runs thru July 25, 2010.

In Ready to Rumble? Maria Cristina Jadick employs assemblage, photography, printmaking, performance, video and American iconography to form installation tableaux that engage viewers in interactive dialogue about U.S. Foreign Policy and the conflicting ramifications of U. S. influence in the world. Using language and material from the kitchen, football, and the military, Jadick creates visual narratives. The narratives reflect a range of experience, from the individual to the universal, and ask viewers to ponder and comment on geopolitics, popular culture and consumerism. Familiar objects placed in new contexts become ventriloquists as they speak ominously of the threatening and dangerous consequences that may result wherever economic, military and political power is exercised.

Ms. Jadick presents an art process that enacts Democracy as it provokes dialogue about issues. Her pieces beg analysis of contemporary cultural discourse while exploring the historical locations of the particular moments and spaces in which they are presented. Reflection on the participatory and performative viewing experience itself is also promoted.

Questions are raised as the underlying themes of energy policy, war, social responsibility, current economic challenges and “unintended consequences” are referenced. What constitutes the political in political art? What responsibilities do viewers have to engage in the process? What are the costs of foreign policy decisions that focus on the preservation of our present day lifestyle? What is the significance of corporate and military omnipresence within the football milieu, especially as it metaphorically relates to U.S. foreign policy? What are the consequences of policy decisions that support a primarily fossil fuel based economy in an atmosphere of limited supply, increased demand, and aggressive pursuit of the resource; all amidst the worrying, and increasingly visible specter of environmental degradation?

Ms. Jadick encourages the open exchange of ideas and viewpoints and urges everyone to go out and “ENACT DEMOCRACY!” “State your case, whatever it is, and may we all learn something from each other! Happy Independence Day!”

Maria Cristina Jadick is a Cuban-American artist who has exhibited works in galleries, cultural venues, corporations and museums in the United States and Latin America. Through a combination of mixed media; photography, video, printmaking, found materials, assemblage, performance, action and installation, her work poses questions about human socio-political, spiritual and economic concerns. Her process attempts to engage others by raising awareness, stimulating thought and possibly motivating remedial action. Maria Cristina has pursued interdisciplinary studies (Art & Social Sciences) at the Transart Foundation, The Glassell School at the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston, Sam Houston State University, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Gettysburg College.

Mother of two young sons and fearing for their future security as our country engages in war on multiple fronts, Maria Cristina was motivated to make new work premised on the need for greater public discussion about U.S. foreign policy. Her recent work explores the seductive and contradictory impressions inherent in the use of nationalistic symbols and American iconography. As she makes metaphoric associations using gridirons, football, grilled steak and mid-eastern country maps, tableaux are created from which to launch public discourse about U.S. foreign policy and pose difficult questions without easy answers.