Inventor of "Installage" Addresses Vexing Obligations of Contemporary Existence
What:
In his installation "Monkey Shines," John O'Donnell appropriates and reassembles nostalgic objects and icons from his youth to address the vexing obligations of contemporary existence and illuminate the tension between childhood expectations and adult realities. O'Donnell's pseudo-Surrealist imagery references the awkward maturation process shared by those culturally educated by cartoons, action figures, comic books, video games, block buster movies, magazines, celebrities and the Internet. Adolescent high jinks, hypothetical conundrums and practical jokes take form in rough-hewn assemblages of shoddy construction, indications of temporary solutions and failed ambitions. In O'Donnell's universe, the constructed desires of children and adults collide in a frenzy of irrationality and seduction.
When:
Opening reception: September 8, 2010, 5-7 p.m.
Exhibition: September 8-30, 2010
Artist's talk: September 28, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday- Friday 1-5 p.m., Saturday 12-3 p.m., Sunday by appointment
Where:
Seton Art Gallery, Dodds Hall, UNH Main Campus
300 Boston Post Road, West Haven, CT 06516
Details:
John O'Donnell lives and works in Connecticut. He is the founder of The Puberty Survivors Support Forum and the inventor of "installage" (installation + collage). He has exhibited at the Chelsea Art Museum, the International Print Center in New York and the Seoul Museum of Art in Korea. O'Donnell creates installations, videos, performances, prints and works on paper.
Recent performances include "Radical Dinosaur Maniac Time Machine Gun Shark Explosion" at the Jorgensen Gallery in the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Connecticut, "The Making of: John O'Donnell's Front Yard Monster Movie Magic Show" at the Proof Gallery in Boston, and "Blueberry" at the Museum of New Art in Detroit. His most recent solo exhibition was "PG-13" at Artspace in New Haven. More information on O'Donnell's work can be found at: www.johnodonnellart.com
For more information contact Seton Gallery Director Kerry O'Grady at 203.931.6065 or www.newhaven.edu/18391.