About the Exhibit - Gone to Fair
Zach Bruder’s exhibit, Gone to Fair, is on view at Magenta Plains Gallery in the lower east side until October 21st.
Bruder’s exhibit explores what we all are going through right now in this pandemic now that we’re home and stuck with ourselves without the distractions of everyday life, we’re looking at our past and trying to understand how it impacts us.
“Each of the paintings on view explores confrontations with the past as a means to interpret the ever-changing present.” (source)
Bruder’s paintings have a comforting familiarity about them, which most likely comes from his reference of media we’ve seen throughout our lives.
“Visually and compositionally harmonious, his paintings conflate divergent pictorial influences from advertisements, caricatures, cartoons, art history, and photos from his extensive historical archive.” (source)
Some of Zach’s references include Prometheus from greek mythology as well as castles from medieval times. In the basement some of the paintings are serving some serious Hansel and Gretel vibes.
“Bruder has long used characters from mythology in both literal or figurative ways. Many of the objects depicted in his paintings are proxies for these characters, evoking primordial existences or inhabiting dream-like afterlives.” (source)
The title of the exhibit is a play on fairness, and what makes a fair transaction. The transaction that Bruder is speaking of here is paintings a subject matter and giving it new context. By referencing old subject matter in a new form, he’s “liberating the paintings from their original referents.”
About the Artist - Zach Bruder
Zach Bruder received his BFA at the University of WisconsinMadison in Madison, WI. This is his second exhibition with Magenta Plains Gallery.
He lives and works in New York.
