The MAC | McKinney Avenue Contemporary Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact(s):
Fernando Rojas & Emily Cheek
The MAC | Membership Liaison
+1.214.953.1212
macmembership@the-mac.org
The MAC features daring, political and intellectual art by Laray Polk, Simeen Ishaque and Sasha Dela
The MAC is pleased to announce its September 6-October 10, 2008 Exhibition: Laray Polk, “Gaza Zoo"; Simeen Ishaque, “Words without voices, forms without bodies”; and Sasha Dela, “Natural Commodity". All three artists defy conventional thinking, delving into subjects of media, politics, religion, gender, and consumerism through paradoxical works of deep intellectual and emotional content. Polk, Ishaque and Dela challenge viewers to be of and beyond contemporary circumstances.
DALLAS, Texas, 17-JUNE-2008 10:00 am The MAC announces its September – October Exhibition presenting the visual art of Laray Polk, Simeen Ishaque and Sasha Dela. The gala reception will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2008. This outstanding exhibition will run through October 10, 2008. All three artists have created sensual works of art based on personal, political and social analysis using digital prints, mixed media and video installations. Most of the work will consist of new pieces created specifically for The MAC space.
In the Large Gallery: Laray Polk’s Gaza Zoo has been in the making for ten years. Originally designed as a hand-held book, it has been exhibited in galleries in a variety of formats. Gaza Zoo combines politically charged text and images influenced by current events, the communication theories of Marshall McLuhan, and the political scholarship of Noam Chomsky.
The MAC exhibition of Gaza Zoo will feature an installation of forty large-scale digital prints representing 40 of the 150 original pages. By enlarging the pages and installing them vertically on walls, Polk hopes to encourage the act of "pubic reading."
Laray Polk states: “Gaza Zoo”, among other things, is a multilayered process based on the politics of domination inherent in a phonetic alphabet, and by extension, other forms of Western communication and acculturation. Humans everywhere avoid the fact that there is implied hierarchy in all things human. One solution to this problem is to analyze these structures out in the open without excuses and in the company of other humans. The harmony of the natural world is waiting."
In the Square Gallery: Simeen Ishaque's “Words Without Voices, Forms Without Bodies”, is a body of work which combines Urdu script and female forms created with fabric. Born in Pakistan and educated in both her native country and the USA, Ishaque is interested in crossing over cultural boundaries by uniting the complexities of the East and the minimalism of the West. Her show incorporates materials, such as scarves and veils, which are seldom found in art, although they are used in her native country and other South-Asian and Islamic countries as apparel. Female forms expose the artist’s self-identity related to Western ideas about "the veil." Ishaque's installation will also include a piece presented as homage to fallen female Pakistani leader, Benazir Bhutto.
Simeen Ishaque states: “By creating ethereal female forms, veiled or unveiled, in a variety of media, I deal with issues arising from the West’s simplistic view about the veil. I try to demonstrate the many mysterious, complex, provocative, delicate, and sensuous layers attached to it. At times, I incorporate poetic verses in Urdu written by classical Pakistani poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mirza Ghalib. I have chosen these poems because they represent stimulating and powerful ideals, intended to bring change to a society and meaning to life. The dense arrangement of the text expresses poetic power with an explosion of visual energy. The text, whether literal or visual, combined with the ethereal figures creates a mystical environment in which an intellectually dynamic dialogue occurs.”
In the New Works Space: Sasha Dela's "Natural Commodity," is an installation that investigates the complex issues surrounding resource use and the potentially unexpected and unforeseen outcomes of industrial production and its impact on culture, society, and its relation to ecology. Dela is interested in the intersection of ecology and the marketplace. She will use sculpture, installation, video and digital photography to draw visitors into an intimate space to explore and question our social and urban development.
Sasha Dela states "Within the sculpture I use everyday objects, ranging from water bottles to cars. More recently upon having spent three years in Houston, Texas, I have been provoked by the culture of cars and driving to make videos that document the vast commerce and infrastructure surrounding automobiles. Imagery of oil and water enter my work. As oil dominates the Texas economy, water is a quickly changing commodity yet to be priced according to its real value. I strive through my work to (re) establish the material connections of the lived world and physical reality we exist in."
About the MAC
Established in 1994, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC) is a nonprofit organization that stands as a Dallas advocate for creative freedom offering the opportunity for experimentation and presentation of art in all disciplines. It supports the emerging and established artist roll in society providing a forum for critical dialogue with their audiences. This relationship is cultivated through education and innovative programming. The MAC cultivates this relationship through education and innovative programming. The MAC is a member of Dallas Art Dealers Association and The Uptown Association.
For more information, visit www.the-mac.org
Interviews and images related to this exhibition are available upon request.
Contact(s):
Fernando Rojas / Emily Cheek
McKinney Avenue Contemporary
3120 McKinney Ave. Dallas, TX 75204
+1.214.953.1212
www.the-mac.org
McKinney Avenue Contemporary ”
Trademarks / Copyrights
The MAC, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, its name and logo are registered Copyrights of The McKinney Avenue Contemporary, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. Other names may be trademarks and or copyrights of their respective owners.
This announcement is provided to you solely for information purposes. Many factors can materially affect The MAC exhibit plans. The MAC specifically disclaims any liability with respect to this information.
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