What’s Next? Larry Cook ï Ben Marcin ï Carolina Mayorga Christie Neptune ï Rachel Schmidt january 26 – march 10, 2017 kohl gallery • gibson center for the arts washington college • chestertown, maryland What’s Next? January 2017. The revolution will be televised after all—perhaps even evaluated on the basis of its Nielsen ratings. Under these and related conditions, the visual takes on renewed significance, as does the practice of looking critically and thoughtfully at that which surrounds us. The power of the visual, and of the arts more narrowly, finds worthy exemplars in the artists of What’s Next?: Larry Cook, Ben Marcin, Carolina Mayorga, Christie Neptune, and Rachel Schmidt. Though differences between their works abound—in medium, motivation, and more—these artists variously model a rigorous interrogation of the world that confronts us; more than that, they lay bare the ability of artmaking to elucidate and even shape understandings of that world. As we begin this new year, we are thrilled to have at Kohl Gallery a group that holds in common a curiosity, incisiveness, and drive that will undoubtedly prove vital within efforts to chart a course forward, to determine what happens next. Katherine Markoski Director, Kohl Gallery Works in the exhibition Larry Cook Black Economics, 2015 Installation with broom, table, lottery tickets, receipts and scratch offs Courtesy of Galerie Myrtis Some of my best friends are Black, 2015 Neon 6 x 131 inches Courtesy of Galerie Myrtis Ben Marcin Silver Run, MD, 2009 Archival pigment print 30 x 40 inches Carolina Mayorga Maid in the USA, 2012-17 Video and performance art Christie Neptune Pulling at My Labels, 2016 HD video, sound 4:21 minutes Courtesy of Hamiltonian Gallery Rachel Schmidt Nostalgia Monument: Float Trip Edition, 2017 Looped single channel video projection and audio with digital prints, lawn chairs, and trash Audio created by Henry Cross from Red Sky Studio Baltimore, MD, 2011 Archival pigment print 30 x 40 inches Kiowa County, CO, 2013 Archival pigment print 30 x 40 inches Baltimore, MD, 2011 Archival pigment print 26 x 41 inches Ben Marcin appears courtesy of the C. Grimaldis Gallery Reverse, left to right: Larry Cook, Some of my best friends are Black, 2015, courtesy of Galerie Myrtis; Ben Marcin, Silver Run, MD, 2009, courtesy of the C. Grimaldis Gallery; Carolina Mayorga, Maid in the USA, 2012-17; Christie Neptune, Pulling At My Labels, 2016, courtesy of Hamiltonian Gallery; Rachel Schmidt, Nostalgia Monument: Float Trip Edition, 2017. larry cook I create work to challenge the viewer to think critically about the constructs of blackness. My chosen mediums are photography, video, installation, and text that examine identity, history, and cultural symbolism. My explorations are a means of interpreting the complex condition of Black Americans. My artwork reflects my present ideas about the notion of a post-racial society while inviting the viewer to do the same. The artwork holds the attention of the viewer allowing them to consider my intent along with their own personal interpretations. This combination of direct observation and subjectivity creates a space in which the viewer can engage with the artwork. In fact, the work is activated by the presence of the audience. Through video documentation, stage photographic approaches, and the strategy of appropriation, the viewer is able to reevaluate their own potential biases. Larry Cook received his MFA from George Washington University in 2013. A 2016 Sondheim finalist and former Hamiltonian Fellow (2013-2015), he has been included in various group shows including It Takes A Nation at the Katzen Arts Center (Washington, DC, 2016); To Be Black in White America at Galerie Myrtis (Baltimore, MD, 2016) and Artist Citizen at Hemphill Fine Art (2013). Cook has also had solo presentations at Hamiltonian Gallery (2015), (e)merge art fair (2014), Stamp Gallery (2014) and Pleasant Plains Workshop (2013). In 2014, he had a large-scale public artwork on view as part of Ceremonies of Dark Men, part of the 5 X 5 Project Public Art, curated by A.M. Weaver and organized by the DC Commission on the Arts. A native of Landover, MD, Larry has taught Photography at The George Washington University, American University and is currently a visual art teacher at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, MD. He is represented by Galerie Myrtis located in Baltimore, MD. Some of my best friends are Black, 2015 ben marcin Photo: Mike Morgan For a number of years, I have been photographing houses and other dwellings that straddled major shifts in demographic, social and economic phenomena in the United States. Some of these changes are clearly historical and took place many years ago while others occurred more recently. In nearly every case, the shift did not result in a positive outcome. In Baltimore, Camden, NJ and Philadelphia, I documented the nineteenth-century solo row houses that can be found in some of the toughest neighborhoods. Built to last forever, many could not withstand the ravages of the decline in manufacturing and other social upheavals of the past forty or so years. Over time, entire blocks were abandoned and subsequently demolished in a desperate bid to salvage neighborhoods that were in a seeming death spiral. Occasionally, one building was left standing, sometimes for no apparent reason. In other cases, the omission seemed to be the result of an act of defiance: a holdout standing his or her ground against overwhelming odds. The Baltimore hobo camps that I photographed came about in large part due to the 2008 recession. Many of the camp residents were, to some extent, there by choice. No longer able to live with family or friends and not strong enough to survive in the city shelters, they preferred the independence of living in the woods. All of the camps I photographed in 2011 were gone by the end of the following year. During the last twenty years, the rapid development of new housing tracts and shopping centers throughout rural Maryland resulted in A House Apart, a photo essay about the disappearing homesteads that had existed for generations only to be abandoned when their owners were forced to move or died with no apparent heirs. The prairie houses of Out West were originally built after the Civil War continuing into the early part of the 20th century. The development of the railroad across the vast expanse of the Great Plains helped create a farming boom. This all ended with the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, a calamity caused by an unfortunate combination of record droughts and improper farming techniques. The houses I photographed are the remnants of this period in history. Ben Marcin was born in Augsburg, Germany. Many of his photographic essays explore the idea of home and the passing of time.“Last House Standing” and “The Camps” have received wide press both nationally and abroad (The Paris Review, iGnant, La Repubblica, Slate, Wired magazine). More recently, he has been exploring the myriad structures of the urban core in series like Towers, Street and Deconstructions. His photographs have been shown at a number of national galleries and venues including the Baltimore Museum of Art; the Delaware Art Museum; The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts; The Center For Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, Colorado; The Photographic Resource Center in Boston; and the Houston Center for Photography. “Last House Standing (And Other Stories)” was featured in a 2014 solo exhibit at the C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore. His work is also in several important collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore, MD, 2011 carolina mayorga My work addresses issues of social and political content. These themes often translate into site-specific installations and multimedia pieces including video, performance art, photography and drawing. I often apply my own image to examine issues of cultural identity, gender and ethnicity. As a Colombian-born and naturalized American citizen, I use my insider/outsider view of American culture to reveal realities and inner struggles through unsettling video-performance pieces and interactive installations. Maid in the USA is a comment on stereotyped roles often attributed to immigrants of Hispanic origin. Carolina Mayorga, a Colombian-born and naturalized American citizen, has exhibited her work nationally and internationally for the last 15 years. Her work is part of national and international collections and has been reviewed in publications in South America, Europe and the US. Mayorga’s artwork addresses issues of social and political content. Comments on migration, war, and identity translate into video, performance, site-specific installations, and two-dimensional media in the form of photography and drawing. The artist lives and works in Washington, D.C. Maid in the USA, 2012-17 christie neptune I am an interdisciplinary artist from Brooklyn, NY. Working across film, photography, mixed media and performance arts, I investigate how constructs of race, gender, and class limit the personal experiences of historically marginalized and stigmatized individuals. Critically aware of both self and subjectivity, I illuminate the personal and emotional aftermath of a society that disregards and delegitimatizes those that endure the brunt of historically upheld supremacies. Pulling at My Labels is an experimental self portrait which examines the social constructs of identity. I wrestle with internalized life experiences to challenge the socio-political systems that shape our psychological self and perceptive modes. “To be seen through my own eyes,” is an idea that I regularly explore as an African American Female Artist. In Pulling at My Labels, I am able to forgo the lens of the “other” and do away with cultural biases that limit and define my blackness. Christie Neptune is a graduate of Fordham University and has been featured in publications including Les Femmes Folles, HYSTERIA: What Was Taken, Psychology Today, JUXTAPOZ , AFROPUNK, The Washington Post and VICE. Recent shows include a solo exhibition at the Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC (2016); and Five Myles Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2015). She has been included in group exhibitions at the Queens Museum of Art, Queens NY (2016); A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2016); Yeelen Gallery, Miami Fl (2015); The Hamiltonian Gallery, Washington, DC (2015); UnionDocs, Brooklyn, NY (2015); the Momentum Technology Film Fest at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ (2014); and 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2011). Pulling at My Labels, 2016 rachel schmidt Nostalgia Monuments are sculptures and installations that immortalize the leisure time in nature that mankind will lose if our current path in the Anthropocene remains the same. For the past several years I have explored how the rapid rate of urban growth has forced the hand of evolution, generating urban versions of animals plants and modifying whole ecosystems. As project-based artist, I use site-specific mixed media installations to create future myths that focus on these overwhelming possibilities. Nostalgia Monument: Float Trip Edition is created to mimic a future monument, crafted by people who don't know what nature was like first hand, so there is a disconnect between the natural and the replicated natural. Playing and engaging with the natural world dominates the youthful memories for the majority of people and these Nostalgia Monuments draw attention to the importance of preserving and protecting these natural spaces. Rachel Schmidt explores how the rapidly increasing rate of urban growth has forced the hand of evolution, generating urban versions of animals, plants and modifying whole ecosystems. Rachel is currently an independent museum professional and works with local D.C. arts organizations, non-profits, and museums. From 2011-16, she was an artist in residence at the Arlington Arts Center and from 201216, an Exhibition Specialist and Exhibition Coordinator at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum. Rachel earned a Masters in Fine Arts from the Mount Royal School of Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007. Nostalgia Monument: Float Trip Edition, 2017