NYAB Event - Irvin Morazan "Temple of the Bearded Man"

Irvin Morazan "Temple of the Bearded Man"

DCKT Contemporary

This event has ended.

DCKT Contemporary presents Irvin Morazan’s solo exhibition Temple of the Bearded Man, inaugurating our new home at 237 Eldridge Street, between Stanton and Houston. This exhibition of photography, collage and sculpture lends itself to a myriad of mythologies, superstitions and sub-cultures. The exhibition opening coincides with Irvin Morazan’s Coyote Procession, Friday, January 7 at 6pm. Irvin Morazan, accompanied by a Mexican Norteño band (subway Mariachis), will lead a celebratory procession from the old DCKT Contemporary location (195 Bowery) to the new DCKT Contemporary location (237 Eldridge Street).

For the performance, Irvin Morazan will be wearing a headdress featuring a neon coyote, an animal that was used as a spiritual vehicle to transport the soul during ceremonies and rituals in Pre-Columbian times. Playing with the contemporary reference of El Coyote as a person paid to smuggle illegal immigrants, the procession highlights and celebrates the complications of passage and rebirth. An absurd ritual through space and time, the commemorative performance is an enactment of mobility, flux and continuity.

The works in the exhibition are conduits for mythical beings and gateways into absurdity, forming bridges between artificial and natural worlds. Imaginary deities indulge in unpredictable hostility, gluttony and humor. Fantastical staged portraits and performances are intertwined with Pre-Columbian mythologies and urban street aesthetics to blur the boundaries of culture and stereotypes. Illegal immigration, homelessness, Shamanism, Pop culture and fast food are contemporary issues that ascribe to abstract qualities of passage and traditions.

Irvin Morazan lives and works in New York, NY. He is currently an MFA Candidate at Hunter College and received a BFA from The School of Visual Arts in 2003. MORAZAN attended the Skowhegan Residency in 2009 and is a recipient of a Mapplethorpe Award. Recent performances and group exhibitions include Art in Odd Places 2010, Jersey City Museum (NJ), Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (NM), Museum of the Caribbean (Baranquilla, Colombia), Marte Museum (El Salvador), Bronx River Arts Center (NY) and Exit Art (NY).

[Image: Irvin Morazan "El Fantastico" (2010) digital c-print edition of 5 + 1 AP, 24 x 20"]

Media

• Drawing
• Photography
• Other
• Sculpture

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