03/09/2008-08/10/2008: Jeremiah Palecek
The third of September will see the opening of the first solo exhibition by Prague based artist Jeremiah Palecek at STYX Project Space.
The US American national Palecek has attracted attention through his simultaneous activity as blogger and painter. In his figurative paintings the artist reacts subtly to the iconography of digital media: many of his paintings depicts stills taken from videogames, sections of user interface or fragments of HTML code.
Palecek has coined the term "Nerd Arts" for this type of aesthetic production, which also shapes the artist's self-perception. The specific logic of digital communication moreover governs the distribution of the work: Palecek consistently paints one painting per day and immediately publicizes these on his blog, through which they are also sold. The choice of subject matter is often reactive or incidental, combining references to the artist's surroundings or resulting from interaction with other internet users.
Often they are also phenomena of the digitally mediated day to day, particularly stereotypes of the American "way of life" that are at the centre of Palececk's work: scenes of family and suburban life are transformed to allegories of temporal and social absolute zero. In these moments of forced stillness the seemingly real and familiar begins to slip into the uncanny; boundaries of a recognizable fiction become porous. Clichés that were previously held dear tip into monstrosity, fissures pervade a normality that seemed safe.
We look forward to seeing you at the opening reception on Wednesday.
Opening Reception: 3 September 2008, 7-10 pm
Closing Reception: 8 October 2008, 7-10 pm
