Artists: John M. Adams, Amy Boone Mccreesh, Remmi Brant, Mei Mei Chang, Bobby Coleman, Bonnie Crawford Kotula, Jamin, Robert Kincheloe, Adam Lister, Greg Minah, Marilyn Minter, Stephanie Rivers, Phillip Scarpone and Willie Wayne Smith
The world wants to be deceived. People time travel through life, drifting in a vast sea of information and distractions, searching for the spectacular, the mysterious, and the hidden. Magic and art have been directly linked together for thousands of years. Both have healing powers, qualities of enchantment and notions of secrecy. Both raise levels of wonder and amazement, while challenging our beliefs and expectations. Both make people question the world around them as they concentrate and reflect upon the conceptual underpinnings of our own physical existence.
This uncertainty, paired with the excitement of the unbelievable and the suspense of the impossible, allows human beings to dream and believe in worlds beyond this one. An artwork and a magic trick can both function as a mental portal for the viewer, whether it be through a manipulation of elements or a display of superhuman powers. People’s imaginations question what they see with their eyes, and in turn, their eyes question what they think they perceive. It’s a circular illusion, an invisible energy and it’s as ancient as it is contemporary. It brings to light the knowledge that nothing in nature remains in a fixed position. Can you imagine what those prehistoric people who discovered fire must have thought at first? Wonderful, strange and terrifying, all at the same time. It’s that absolute balance between real and unreal that treads a fine line at a truly undefined border.
The work selected for this exhibit revolves around concepts relating to material manipulation, visual trickery and alternate perceptions of reality. Magically Suspicious aims to draw connections between process based art, abstraction, and the desire to explore the curious and the unknown. The show features drawing, painting, photography, installation, and sculpture by 14 artists from Maryland, New York, Virginia and Washington D.C.
