Jennybird Alcantara & Craig LaRotonda: Creeps and Dreamers
August 16th through September 20th, 2008
Opening Reception: Saturday, 16th of August, 7:00 - 10:30pm
Black Maria pleased to announce the opening of Creeps & Dreamers featuring new works by Jennybird Alcantara & Craig LaRotonda.
Jennybird’s work has at its core a narrative; she explores the complex interconnectedness of opposites as seen through the prism of fable and fantasy. In her latest series, she is exploring the riddle realms of the unconscious and dreams. Sleep as an escape, but dreamland is also a place where the subconscious can’t hide from the restlessness of the waking world that creeps in to reveal itself in distortion as if through water. At the threshold of the subconscious” the sleepwalker” peers into deep pools, seeing herself upside down and inside out, reflected in the living creatures around her, in harmony and discord, one moment floating lightly above the surface and in an instant sunk into the looming depths.
LaRotonda’s haunting figurative works are introspective and meditative interpretations of the human condition. Applying what he calls “spiritual technology,” LaRotonda’s brushwork is meticulous and precise, reminiscent of the Flemish figurative paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries. “My paintings explore the unspeakable nature of consciousness,” he says. “Existence is much more than what we perceive with the five senses. I’m captivated by the spaces in-between, like the passage between life and death, which plays continuously in my work.” LaRotonda’s works have appeared in several motion pictures including Traffic and Heartbreakers, as well as numerous publications such as Time, The Washington Post, and Juxtapoz.