Juxtapoz Projects is pleased to present Self Possessed—a two-person exhibition of new works from artists-in-residence, Kate Klingbeil & Megan Cavanaugh. Opening April 5, 2019 at Mana Contemporary, both artists are presenting a new series of paintings, sculptures and animation that were produced in the Winter 2019 program of the Juxtapoz Projects residency (all photos in gallery are from the Juxtapoz Projects residency). Working alongside each other for three months, Self Possessed is an exploration into themes of identity, the body and self-care. While Cavanaugh and Klingbeil have delved deep into their own respective practices, the two have also collaborated on a large-scale installation and animated short, specific to the exhibition.
From Kate Klingbeil: “My paintings serve as internal landscapes, amalgamations of lived experiences, emotion and fantasy. Recently, I have been working with the idea of the body as a landscape, women as grassy knolls, rolling hills and granite cliffs. They sustain these internal worlds come to life externally, sometimes fruitful, lush, green and thriving, and other times barren and tired, dry and cracking. Our bodies and our lands contain a history, shedding skin, gaining folds and wrinkles over time. I’m interested in the filters and memories we acquire throughout our lives that shape us, and the way these things manifest physically. The figures in my work have become enveloped landscapes that oscillate between a spectrum of feelings. Some places reverberate with strange and unknown dangers while others are shielded with comfort - both simultaneously deteriorating and regenerating before our eyes.”
From Megan Cavanaugh: “Incorporating pastel-toned palaver of gossip columns, fake lashes, stilettos, and grande lattes made with soy, I delve into prevalence of body image, embedded in systems of insecurities, vulnerability, and self-exposure. My work examines the female body to reclaim and reconstruct its meaning and value from my subjective position. I am exploring femininity as something you perform and femininity as an aesthetic. I am rethinking how women are constructed as gendered subjects in the language of spectacle. By claiming the pleasure and power of making a spectacle of ourselves, we negate our own invisibility in the public sphere. The female protagonists balance dirty and pretty; the figures have the facade of beauty, but they will break down, as human bodies do.”
Self Possessed opens April 5, 2019 at Mana Contemporary with an opening reception from 6 - 9pm. Both artists will be in attendance and refreshments will be served. The exhibition will be on view at Juxtapoz Projects April 5 - 28, 2019.
