paintings & drawings
THE MISSION is excited to exhibit History is Boring, a group show curated by Peter Skvara featuring work by Adam Gondek, Nate Juncer, Alex Lukas, Leah Mackin, Emma Robbins and Deb Sokolow. An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 13 from 6pm to 8pm. The show will continue through Saturday, February 25, 2017.
History is Boring is a facetious remark about why we dissect the past. If the social currency of coolness depends on the ability to predict what is to come into fashion, then what is the value of knowing what has already occurred? Is it because history is cyclical? Or because those who cannot remember the past are doomed to…you know the rest. It is meaningful to keep in mind that “history” is the study of events, not the events themselves. In other words, history is an interpretation of reality. Events are immutable but the interpretation of those events will be forever fluid. Each of the artists in History is Boring explores how we document, erase, and subvert our collective interpretation of history.
ADAM GONDEK transforms recognizable societal totems such as issues of LIFE Magazine and wipes them out with solvent, frequently leaving only the title in his paintings. By obscuring the historical context, Gondek questions the value of the magazine as a collectable as well as the historical moment itself.
Text by Whitney Stoepel, Director of Public Relations at Eli and Edythe Broad Museum at Michigan State University