Thursday, September 18 | Jonathan Monaghan in person!
Seamlessly melding imagery from art history, mainstream video games, and contemporary advertising, Jonathan Monaghan’s videos are surreal explorations of power, value, and the role of technology. The artist, whose work takes shape through glossy animated videos, virtual environments, and 3D printing, presents a selection of his latest videos, a special preview of an untitled work-in-progress, and a behind-the scenes look at the technology and research that informs his practice. At the center of the program are the science-fiction inspired shorts Alien Fanfare (2014) and Mothership (2013), each of which welcomes viewers aboard vast, dreamlike spacecraft assembled from luxury brands, fleshy tissue, and Baroque architecture.
2008-14, USA, multiple formats, 70 minutes + discussion
Jonathan Monaghan (b.1986, New York) creates sculpture and animated video installations that challenge the boundaries between the real, imagined, and virtual. He received his BFA from the New York Institute of Technology in 2008 and his MFA from the University of Maryland in 2011. Monaghan’s work has been exhibited worldwide in venues such as Bitforms Gallery in New York; BFI Southbank in London; Eyebeam Art & Technology Center; the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC; and most recently in State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. He has given lectures and workshops at the Glasgow School of Art, University of Denver, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in 2011 was invited by the US State Department to discuss his work in Bahrain. He currently lives and works in Washington, DC.