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Media Contact: Rebecca Basu (202-885-5950) basu@american.edu

Contact:
Media Contact: Rebecca Basu (202-885-5950) basu@american.edu

AU Museum at the Katzen 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016-8031 United States

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New 猫咪社区app Landscapes

September 7 鈥 December 8, 2024

Mark Kelner, Artist
Jack Rasmussen, Curator

Mark Kelner, Strip Mall Landscape IX, (Falls Church, Virginia), 2022. Strip mall sign advertises restaurants, cricket store, dentist, dollar store, travel agency, photo store, attorneys, furniture store

Mark Kelner, Strip Mall Landscape IX, (Falls Church, Virginia), 2022. Acrylic on canvas, 63 x 47 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Overview & Events


September 21, 2:00-3:00 p.m.


How do we define what a landscape is in the digital age, an era of forever text enabled by our smartphones? What is 鈥渁rt鈥 supposed to look like in the time of alternative facts? And who, in reality, is the audience for this socially impactful work that engages viewers conceptually, emotionally, and physically?

Imagine walking into Times Square, but instead of neon lights and videos being thrust upon you, a viewer is immersed by painterly recreations of strip mall signs with thick impasto, saturated colors, bold lettering, and unintentional graphic design which is then remade as purposeful and highly stylized. In the suburbs where Kelner grew up, these signs are the artist鈥檚 equivalent of trees, if not, markers of time. By isolating the raw material of this collective signage, Kelner suggests that what they really are about is a changing national identity 鈥 who we are by what we eat, how we consume, and how can that be expressed visually with multiple uses of text, typography, various languages, collage, and clip art logos. 鈥淚n short,鈥 says Kelner, this is 鈥渕y own family鈥檚 immigrant experience as told through the lens of what I and the audience see on the street.鈥 To a suburban kid on his Huffy, such signs or totems are the 鈥淣ew 猫咪社区app Landscapes.鈥

Mark Kelner, Strip Mall Landscape XVI, (Largo, Florida), 2023. Strip mall sign advertising bars, check cashing, restaurants, bagels, nails, tattoo, vape

Mark Kelner, Strip Mall Landscape XVI, (Largo, Florida), 2023. Acrylic on canvas, 68 x 55 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Mark Kelner, Strip Mall Landscape XVII, (Pasadena, California), 2023. Strip mall sign advertises video rental, donuts, coin laundry, tax preparer, restaurant, shoe repair, market, and, the largest, liquor.

Mark Kelner, Strip Mall Landscape XVII, (Pasadena, California), 2023. Acrylic on canvas, 64 x 47 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Press

  • The Washington Post鈥&辩耻辞迟;"
  • Yello鈥&辩耻辞迟;."
  • Washington City Paper鈥&辩耻辞迟;"
  • Bmore Art鈥&辩耻辞迟;"
  • Hyperallergic鈥&辩耻辞迟;"