February 16 – March 11
Fantasy / Reality / Decay
Curated by Sophie Buchmueller
Contributing artists: Eric Capper, Sarah Brophy, Sydney Gush, and Morgan Eldridge
280 Gallery Open Hours
Monday – Friday: 11am – 6pm
Saturday: 11am – 3pm
Sundays: Closed
Holidays: Closed
Featured Work
Out To Lunch
Sarah Brophy
Digital animation
4 minutes
2021
The Kiss in 1965
Sydney Gush
Reproduction print of hand-cut collage, vintage National Geographic and Playboy Magazines
21″ x 21″
2019
Out To Lunch
Sarah Brophy
Digital animation
4 minutes
2021
Exhibition Narrative
Fantasy / Reality / Decay seeks to distort cultural associations of the office, especially the individualistic, capitalist aspirations of the space and the more mundane—even depressing—qualities of working life. The gallery installation does not accurately recreate a corporate office setting so much as construct immersive situations inspired by its quintessential features, in order to imagine speculative, dreamlike futures for objects left behind when employees evacuated, and propose new models for engaging with them and each other in these failed spaces. The objects assembled within the gallery draw out the dissociations created by such liminal spaces, considering how hopeful fantasies tie into functionality and how unrealized promises lead to decay.
The exhibition is a collective endeavor by Sydney Gush, Morgan Eldridge, Eric Capper, Sarah Brophy, and Sophie Buchmueller. Born from an intentionally collaborative process, Fantasy / Reality / Decay seeks to transform the gallery into a communal and relational environment in which objects, made both by specific artists and collectively, communicate with each other. Not only does this integrated mode of display reflect the show’s curatorial process, but it also conceptually underscores a rejection of the hierarchical, individualistic, alienated nature of capitalist work culture.
A site-responsive performance with Keny De La Peña
Programming Event
To whom it may concern:
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
This event will be hosted in SITE’s 280 Gallery and Instagram Live
Join SITE’s Instagram here.
Join SITE galleries for an afternoon performance by Keny De La Peña in conjunction with the group exhibition Fantasy / Reality / Decay. The performance can be viewed by visiting the gallery in person, or by tuning into SITE’s Instagram Live.
Fantasy / Reality / Decay will be on view in the SITE 280 Gallery from February 16th until March 9th.
Persons with disabilities requesting accommodations should visit saic.edu/access
Photo Documentation
BY VERÓNICA ROSAS
Video Documentation
By Beatrice Kilkelly-Schmidt
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Address
SITE Sharp Gallery
37 S. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL, 60603
SITE 280 Gallery
280 S. Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL, 60603
Hours
Gallery Hours (during exhibitions)
Monday – Friday 11am – 6pm
Saturday 11am – 3pm