Virtual exhibition walk through

Languages are codes that both communicate and construct our perceptions of reality. In today’s media-saturated culture, communication is ever more complex and difficult to comprehend with certainty. Deceptions are embedded in the languages of commerce and politics, where the voices of influence, power and authority skew and obscure reality with false claims and doublespeak. Even our Interpersonal communications are often carefully coded and calculated, delivered to the world at large to be interpreted and evaluated via digital media platforms. We are often unsure about what secrets are kept, what lies are conflated with reality, or what encoded messages are reaching our subconscious minds, influencing how we understand ourselves and the world we live in.

The artists in this exhibition render visual enigmas that are open to interpretation. They present us with cyphers – encrypted messages – to decode. Each artist, in their own way, offers clues that may help us find and decipher embedded codes, revealing the subtexts in their work. Laura Forman’s exquisitely rendered pastel drawings set up riddles with images that reflect humankind’s efforts to create order from chaos. Meticulous Renaissance style paintings by Lucy Gaylord-Lindholm carry the mystique of relics entangled in a cryptic mix of historical and cultural references. Mysterious moving images emanate from Steve Gompf’s curious “Televisors,” archaic communication devices with confounding histories. Gina Pearlin’s intimate dreamscapes stage spare, puzzling scenarios for the viewer to piece together using their own associations. These artworks invite us to investigate, to dig deeper, to ponder what we see, to interpret the secret languages they speak.

Image above: Laura Forman, Untitled

Images below: Steve Gompf, Salesman Sample 1927, American, Lucy Gaylord-Lindholm, Glasseye, Gina Pearlin, Transmitting