 Mutts and Goodboys, 6/7/19 - 6/28/19 “In this other world, they have little restraint and act upon their desires. Sometimes it's to grope and prod and sniff. Sometimes it's to cry, scream, or attack. Their animal characteristics show through. They unabashedly show intense emotion and enact those emotions without apprehension” - Zubrovich  My work is a synthesis of several material practices centered around a singular alternate universe of anthropomorphic baseball-obsessed dog-people.The work I’ve made here in Pittsburgh has been heavily influenced by the intense energy of the city’s sports fandom. My artwork primarily hangs on the visual and cultural framework of baseball, and feeds off the fervent homo-social energy (and wealth of androphilic sexual euphemisms) that come with it. My focus here has been mainly off the field and in the nosebleeds, shifting my queer lens from the experience of the dog-players to the experience of the dog-fans. Strong, intense emotion comes hand in hand with fandom, and these pups are unashamed to put their candid emotions on display. From brand loyalty and pride in your team colors, to crushing on their favorite player, to wanting vengeance for the team when they fall. I’ve made a series of paintings, embroideries, and soft sculptures that bring this universe into our 3 dimensions, and explores how these pups might go about displaying their pride.  Mark Zubrovich (b.1992) is a New York based artist born on Long Island. He graduated with his BFA from SUNY Purchase in 2015. He shows with Deli Grocery Gallery in Queens NY, and has recently shown at Tiger Strikes Asteroid and Agency Gallery in Brooklyn, Abrams Art Center in Manhattan, and the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson VT. He is the current artist in residence at Bunker Projects in Pittsburgh, PA, and will be the artist in residence at the James Black Gallery in Vancouver, BC later this summer. He doesn’t own any dogs of his own, but dearly misses his cat Skittles.
 Suade, 5/3/19 - 5/19/19 "Texture, movement, material and process are key elements of my artwork. Most recently my work references natural disasters: floods, wind storms, rain illustrating various forces that cannot be controlled. I attempt to bring viewers closer to the visceral qualities of the natural elements, through a mixed media process that spans the field of sculpture and painting. Often referencing the changing of time from the natural entropic decay of the materials, my work incorporates a “scraper” or “magpie” mentality-constantly foraging for materials." Cohen grew up between the Rust Belt of the United States and a kibbutz in Northern Israel, currently living and working in Pittsburgh, PA. Her interdisciplinary art practice spans sculpture, painting, drawing, public art, intervention, video performance and community art practices. Oreen received a BFA in Painting at the University at Buffalo and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Carnegie Mellon University in 2014.
oreencohen.com  Rinse + Repeat, 5/3/19 - 5/19/19 Observe + Repeat was a collection of drawings and objects created by Pittsburgh artist and designer, Ali Karsh. Some functional, some sculptural, some representative and others abstract, the collection journaled a repetitious practice of observational exercises. Vibrant, toy-like colors and simple, recurring forms characterize her visual language; one, which is often more meditative and playful than it is intellectual. Ali uses simple compact mediums so that her drawing can travel easily and be made spontaneously as she often finds inspiration while on the move.
alikarsh.com  Things As They Are, 3/1/19 - 3/29/19 Things As They Are invited the goer on a reimagined walk through the city, flipping and exaggerating perceptions of the ordinary. Here, the sky is at your feet while sidewalk blocks are brought onto the wall, encouraging deliberate observation and bodily awareness. The many moods of the sky are punctuated while reclaiming the visual plane in which one would usually engage in to look down at your phone. Meanwhile, compositions of things discarded gain elevated value through a playful reimagining of material and scale. Trash becomes seductive and evocative by turning single-use plastics into precious art objects, echoing a concern for the natural environment and urging viewers to consider common detritus with permanence and agency. With an obvious reverence for the forgotten and tossed aside, Things As They Are does not present things as they actually are, but as they ought be considered; grand and beautiful.   A Better Home and Garden, 2/1/19 - 2/24/19 A Better Home and Garden was a duo-exhibition with Selena Hurst and Derek Peel curated by Bunker Projects board member, Emma Vescio. Audience members are asked to question their assumptions about how objects exist, how physical spaces can be fabricated, and how we define and designate preciousness. By extracting and reassembling fragments of familiar objects and spaces, the audience is forced to recognize elements of our lives that we do not examine. Selena Hurst and Derek Peel [reimagine/redefine] physical spaces that we automatically accept as authentic.   Untitled, 12/7/18 - 1/6/19 UNTITLED Adjective “Without A Title” “I’d like to think of the word “Untitled” as an empowering description of nakedness. Having focused much of my early life thus far to how I identify myself, “Untitled” continues my research on self-definition realized through different means of transportation. The vehicles being the different mediums I use to make physical these “abstract” ways of seeing — Being.” -BJH  Brendon Hawkins is a Multi-disciplinary visual, performance, and sound artist. Brendon’s work looks at past narratives and asks “how does this apply to the life being lived today”. He also uses many found objects to converse about accessibility. A daily practice for Brendon includes waking in the morning, practicing vogue, and taking a walk around the Garfield/Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. On these walks, Brendon picks up street “trash” and recreates the forgotten pieces into present thoughts. “I believe the concept of self-identity is as much an act of rebellion, as it is assimilation. By my philosophy, for one to fully live as the person they wish to be, they’d have to “break apart” past ideas to understand how they may or may not be communicating with the present day languages; a rebel. While also, I believe self-identity is a performance, a constant construction of the person that is “I” “me” “myself”. Which I link to destiny, to decree beforehand. Every moment that leads up to the creation of “I”, had a series of events that lead up to IT. Because of these chained events, the “self” is much apart of the larger community. The destined role of the “self” in the community… assimilation.
So as I am becoming “I”, I’m using this solo show to start many public conversations, and I say public because I’ve had them with myself since childhood.” -BJH |
