Past Exhibition
|
MATERIALS UNORGANIZED | Casey Jex Smith September 5 - October 5, 2008 Casey Jex Smith, Materials Unorganized installation view, opening reception Casey Jex Smith, Materials Unorganized installation view Casey Jex Smith, Materials Unorganized installation view of paintings Click here to read "Art, Religion, Success" in the Oakbook, 9/23/08 by Theo Konrad Auer Casey Jex Smith's life thus far has been fully immersed in the Mormon faith and culture. In this church, much like any other, there is a significant visual history.
Most of this history is depicted in 2D illustrations that tell stories of the formation of the church, its growth, movement around the Midwest, its exodus to the West
and finally, the settlement of Zion in Utah. The images of these stories are used primarily as educational tools in Sunday school. In the last two decades, there has
emerged a new Mormon Art market, not much different than Thomas Kinkade paintings with Christian/Mormon themes. It has become what is popular taste in
Utah and other Latter Day Saint (LDS) communities and the artistic and aesthetic standard that other art is compared (except for a very small portion of the LDS population). Smith has complained that this "kitsch" is a misrepresentation of a new generation of artistic and aesthetic standards in the Mormon community. In graduate
school, he decided to create a new Mormon Art that reflects himself and his peers more accurately. Smith's current work is about creating a visual narrative of spiritual experience. He uses pen and ink, graphite, colored pencil, acrylic and collage, and a mix of
strict representation and abstraction. Conceptually, he connects his faith and belief of visions, celestial visitations, and divine dreams with the physical world.
He borrows imagery from biblical and Book of Mormon illustrations and from modern and contemporary abstract painting and drawing. Materials Unorganized is a reference to a scripture, Abraham 3:24 that says "...we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon
these may dwellˇ¦" This is an excerpt from the Creation Story as written in Mormon scripture. Casey Jex Smith, Untitled (Peter P. Broke a Window) (2008), Collage on paper, 7.5 x 7.5 inches Works available PROJECT SPACE Tyrone Davies, Video still from Jelly Boil (2008), Video Collage Serving both as a collage of actual footage and a collage of ideas, this video work evaluates various elements of perceived persona.
What an artist or celebrity sees in himself may be very different from how he is perceived by others, yet he often manufactures a persona
to market his work. Usually, this is a persona that many spectators buy into, even if the persona reads like a joke to others. Just as Billy
Joel's music videos playfully attempt to establish a loose sense of biography, this video mash-up playfully confronts varied ideas of identity.
The video follows a loose structure that more closely resembles the narrative of a rock concert than the narrative of a biography. Still the
piece addresses biography as well as concepts of celebrity and performance while musically distilling Billy Joel's songs to their most visceral
elements such as drum fills, piano solos, guitar riffs and sustained vocals. |