VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Gallery 1724, Contemporary Art Salon is pleased to present Doug Cason and Zepeda: Double Life at Gallery 1724, 1724 Bissonnet St., Houston, Texas 77005. The double solo shows open Friday, March 11, 2011 from 8pm to 10pm. The exhibition runs through Saturday, April 30, 2011.

“Doug Cason and Zepeda both create such thoroughly developed and highly skilled bodies of work that it can be quite a surprise to find out they are both actually created by the same artist,” states Emily Sloan, curator for Doug Cason’s and Zepeda’s current exhibition on view at Gallery 1724. “Cason is two fully realized artists in one. This is a very exciting approach to embracing the freedom and complexity available in contemporary art. Their adjacent shows at Gallery 1724 will be the first time Doug and Zepeda have had dual solo exhibitions at the same venue.”

About Doug Cason’s art: Through an intervention with text, objects, and the traditional formats and trappings of contained knowledge, historical narratives become altered and contemporized. These historical documents are manipulated to the point where fact and fiction lines blur. The new work acts as a catalyst for reevaluating the validity of traditional historical narratives by creating newer fictionalized histories, which highlight irrational or problematic ideologies long overlooked over time. Photographs interface with ink, forcing one to search through layers as they pursue the concept of identity. Books become modern illuminated manuscripts through cover-to-cover revampings through painting, printmaking, bookbinding and digital manipulations.

The end products become museum-type, installations of categorized and encased books, photographs, paintings and ephemera that work together to create a falsified past. In some cases, the installation becomes viewer interactive making it possible to sit and “read” the books along with dossiers of related artifacts as if one was stepping into a scriptorium or library of a compulsive scribe or historian. It is with this ability to “read” the work, handle objects or study each under glass that information becomes reanimated. What was once a cast-off allusion to the past becomes alive again but with new identity, rooted in modernity and footnoted by the past.

About Zepeda’s art: From readily accessible digital media and online social networks, a new fashion of (desperate) narcissism and pornography has risen to serve as the modern day booty call.

Bevies of individuals now seek to reconceive their identities in a virtual world. Although some people will use their real names, most who use the Internet for the purpose of reinvention prefer the use of pseudonyms, which often reveal subtle or metaphorical hints of personal information. As users interact with an established online identity a reputation builds which enables others to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust.

The concept of the personal self, and how emerging technology influences it is currently studied in the fields of psychology and sociology. Research suggests that unwise and uninhibited behavior on the Internet rises as a result of the relationship between anonymity and (immediate) audience gratification creating a loosening or even complete abandonment of social restrictions and reticence that would otherwise be present in traditional face-to-face interactions.

The notion of “You don’t know me” equates to simple anonymity. Anonymity affords a sense of protection, and feeling protected provides an individual with a virtual playground allowing for a meaningful release. The release may be as simple as making a comment that would otherwise be embarrassing in a conventional interaction, or as complex as an outlet for sexual fantasies. Certain release-seekers photograph themselves in the mirror or with their own extended arm striking seductive poses in scant clothing.

These studies in particular are the focus of my Zepeda paintings.

The women depicted show a complexity of character in an easily dismissed, attention deficit fed forum. The need for the subject to photograph herself, rather than trusting another individual to assist her may suggest the woman’s distrust of a flesh and blood world, finding the virtual world more accepting and forgiving. Contrarily it may point to an isolation that previously existed, and a need for attention that has not been gratified with real human contact. The isolation apparent in each of these photographs is compounded by inattention for the setting or quality of the photograph. Neglected environments made of dirty laundry, unmade beds, empty food containers and flashes from the camera share the scene in a large collection of these on-line photos. The disheveled environment casts a light on the women’s detachment from the material world, and lack of interest in her daily drudgeries. The anticipated adoration waiting online preempts in importance the need to care for home.

About Gallery 1724: Gallery 1724 is a d.i.y. contemporary art salon offering rotating, experimental art exhibits and performances. The venue is located in the Houston Museum District at 1724 Bissonnet St. (between Dunlavy and Woodhead), Houston, Texas 77005. For more information, please visit: www.gallery1724.blogspot.com.

Attached images:
Doug Cason’s “discard”, oil on panel
Zepeda’s “Zepeda likes this”, oil on panel