Jessica Ann Peavy "Emergency Contraception"
Collette Blanchard Gallery
This event has ended.
A selection of single-channel videos depict vivid first person accounts of romantic encounters that are open to doubt. Four characters confide their secrets, desires, trials, confrontations and internal conflicts to a trusted viewer; yet, the videos encourage the viewer to question the objectivity of each subject, their narratives, and to examine their own prejudices when determining believability. Coupled with photographs and an opening night performance, the work examines how gender, cultural background, gesticulation, and use of vernacular English influence the perception of credibility.
Jessica Ann Peavy is interested in the natural art of storytelling, especially where the lines between fact and fiction are blurred and accounts of actual events can be exaggerated and self aggrandizing. In the video "Parable #1: Katelyn and the Young Black Man" a Domincan woman recalls her white boyfriend cheating on her with white woman, while a male voice counters her story by accusing her of cheating with a black man. The viewer does not actually see the male but we ask ourselves is the voice enough to question the woman's integrity.
The videos and performance use a combination of real people drawing upon personal history and outrageous invented characters to further blur the line. Influenced by folk tales, tall tales, and media that break the fourth wall, Peavy's work creates an alternate universe where confessional-style visual language elicits raw emotion and sometimes, inspires a larger awareness within.
[Image: Jessica Ann Peavy "It's Not the Liquor Talking (from Parable #2: Black Magic and the Man with No Pants)" (2010) matte front laminate, mounted on sintra 9.5 x 17 in.]
Media
Schedule
from November 05, 2010 to December 31, 2010
Opening Reception on 2010-11-05 from 18:00 to 20:00