June 1-3, 2018
COMMON COMFORT | Beitz, Crespin, McMahon
curated by Amber Cobb
GEORGIA is excited to present COMMON COMFORT, curated by Amber Cobb with work by Michael Beitz, Mari Crespin, and Lucas T. McMahon.
COMMON COMFORT explores the notion of comfort through common objects and forms. The works in this show use intimacy, absurdity, and play to question what it means for people to be comfortable physically, psychologically, and socially. Michael Beitz's porcelain casts of underwear are funny and awkward, yet sensitive and fragile. In their uselessness and vulnerability, they work to expose, rather than protect, our most private parts. Mari Crespin's video installation examines the struggle of fitting into an ideal role. Her work neither rejects nor accepts the role, but illuminates the act of finding what truly fits. The soft lighting and dreamy textures in her video are contrasted with distortion and erasure, the resulting effect confronts the past and present. In Lucas T. McMahon's sculpture, 36,000 gold plated safety pins drape delicately off the wall appearing soft, luxurious. He presents us a facade of comfort. The safety pin is quite the contradiction; it is a connector and a fastener, yet with any sudden movement or strain one feels failure with a small prick.
Michael Beitz combines furniture design and meticulous craftsmanship with the more conceptual concerns of contemporary art. Michael Beitz received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from Alfred University and an Master of Fine Arts from the University at Buffalo. He has also worked as a fine woodworker with world-renowned furniture artist Wendell Castle, and NYC furniture design firm BDDW. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. Artist grants and residencies include Sculpture Space in Utica, NY, and the Roswell Artist in Residence Program in New Mexico. He is currently an Assistant Professor at CU Boulder.
Mari Crespin is an experimental video, performance, and installation artist currently living in Denver and pursuing a BFA at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and operating as this year’s 40West District Artist in Residence. She has been exhibited in numerous shows on the RMCAD campus, as well as performed around Denver with the New Genres Collective. Mari is looking forward to showing with an all-female collective at ReCreative Denver and performing in the CURRENTS New Media Festival in Santa Fe this summer. Mari’s creative work transfers the sensibility of painting to immersive installation works which often incorporate performance elements. She explores the surreal psychology of emotions and memory, and questions identity through colorful, dynamic spaces and time-based experiences. Her work confronts strong systems of duality in a sensitive and poignant way.
Lucas T. McMahon is a painter and sculptor. He has a BFA from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and lives in Denver.
Amber Cobb is a Colorado based artist, living and working in the Denver area. In 2011 she received her M.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Cobb has been exhibited in a number of exhibitions both nationally and internationally. This includes xiao shan xiao at the Hunan Province Art Museum in Kaifeng, China, Sweat Baby Sweat in Los Angeles, and Direct Connect in Berlin. She has shown in numerous exhibitions and institutions in the Colorado region including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, and at RedLine.
Benjamin Roberts has been playing cello for over 10 years and is a graduate of Denver School of the Arts High School. He currently is a student at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Hours
- Friday, June 1 | Opening reception | 7pm to midnight | Music by Benjamin Roberts at 8pm
- Saturday, June 2 | 1-5pm
- Sunday, June 3 | 1-5pm | Artist Talk 1pm
952 Mariposa Street | Denver 80204 | Enter through the alley
For accessibility information and other inquiries contact GEORGIAartspace@gmail.com.