Martha Mysko “Wallflowers”

Marc Straus

poster for Martha Mysko “Wallflowers”

This event has ended.

MARC STRAUS presents its second exhibition of new work by Martha Mysko.

Martha Mysko’s sculptures and installations initially appear to be the sites of domestic chaos. Her sculpture is made of every day recognizable furnishings: couches, TVs, trellises, linoleum, mirrors, carpets, and more. They are cultural debris, the “things” in our space that often have lost their visual value. The TV is on, the phone rings and perhaps this sofa with threadbare fabric is no longer noticed.

Martha is an archeologist who grabs this flotsam and reinvigorates it, animating it into a visual tableau. Here with new life they are like abstract paintings, they are “saved” even if what remains is halved and ripped. They are adorned at times like reliquaries – the cut up couch with flowers.

And like the girl sitting on a bench at a dance hardly glancing around and hoping that some young man will ask her to dance, these objects too are wallflowers. They are not the cheerleaders and the immediate objects of attention. They are unnoticed, but for Martha, in each of us resides beauty.

This new body of work exudes a sense of raw integrity. They remind perhaps of Anselm Kiefer only here even more domestic and from a cultural viewpoint that is of the moment. This work is emotional and laden with narrative of tragedy and humor.

Martha Mysko received her MFA in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 2011. She has been included in several group exhibitions including at The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art and currently at The Oakland University Art Gallery. Her solo exhibitions include those at Marc Straus in 2012, and The Culture Room in Brooklyn in 2013. She was an artist in residence at The Homestead AK in Alaska and Takt Kunstprojerktraum in Berlin.

[Image: Daytime Drama, 2013, Mixed Media, 48 x 48 x 32 inches, 121 x 121 x 81 cm]

Media

Schedule

from January 08, 2014 to February 16, 2014

Opening Reception on 2014-01-08 from 18:00 to 20:00

Artist(s)

Martha Mysko

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