Friday, September 18, 6-10pm, Artspace, 1219 Main Street--ECOLOGIES OF DECAY: DENNIS MAHER, J-M REED, JULIAN MONTAGUE. Geoff Kelly for Artvoice writes:
One scours demolition sites and abandoned buildings for materials—anything, really, that is or was part of a human act of construction—and reassembles the pieces into sculpture. Another is a photographer fascinated by fire as an endgame in the process of urban decay, as the ultimate consumer of the American Dream. The third is artist as taxonomist, whose work identifies, describes, and elevates systems that surround us but hum just below the level of conscious observation. Three artists—Dennis Maher, J-M Reed, and Julian Montague, respectively—whose work is ultimately concerned with our environment, how we construct it, and how what we construct ultimately contains the seeds of its own decay. Their work appears together in a three-way show called Ecologies of Decay, which opens this Friday (Sep. 18) with a reception at Artspace’s immense gallery. The intention of the show, according to the artists, is to examine the changing nature of the city—the way it is shrinking, the way its built environment is evolving or decaying—and to provoke a discussion of the manner in which residents relate to urban blight and the degradation of Buffalo’s housing stock. Maher contributes assemblages harvested from deconstructed materials; Reed contributes his photographs of urban fires; and Montague contributes a study of the creatures that reside in and contribute to the decay of urban structures. Definitely one of the fall’s most fascinating shows.Julian Montague was a frequent contributor to Murder the Word events and debuted his well-known shopping cart project, "The Nomadic Architecture of Buffalo NY" on 04/26/02 at the gallery at the original Soundlab.
Ecologies of Decay runs through October 19. Viewing hours are every Saturday from noon-4pm (during exhibitions only), and by appointment Wednesday-Friday from 10am-6pm.
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