OTHER/SELF: works by Allan Pichardo + Michael Espinoza
OTHER/SELF
Allan Pichardo + Michael Espinoza
August 5 — 26, 2023
Opening Saturday, August 5, 5–8 PM
Hours: Sat–Sun, 12–5 PM & by appointment
EXHIBITION
Allan Pichardo and Michael Espinoza present a body of work that weaves each artist’s exploration of self, community, embodiment and inheritance across intersecting identities. Both artists offer work in this exhibition that demonstrates the process of seeing oneself and the process of connecting that vision across time and place, through ancestors of the African diaspora, through queer ancestors lost to persecution, and through the journeys of self-discovery giving many-formed life to these diverse practices. Both Pichardo and Espinoza embed technology into these bodies of work in ways that are sometimes subtle (representing digital outputs with handmade media) and at other times overt (an immersive VR experience), playing along the boundary where humans and algorithms negotiate for the future of human representation.
Espinoza presents pieces from two bodies of work: Instant Gratification is a group of instant photography-based textile works depicting forms of queer intimacy, exposing glimpses of queer futurity, interiority, memory, embodiment, loss, and survival. The second, Reader, is a series of digital collages that mix photography, textile, and printing strategies. This work complicates the relationship between time, memory, reality, sensation, and materiality.
Pichardo presents a collection of speculative software-based works, subversive repurposings of everyday technologies, that conjure images of alternate realities where the power dynamic between users of technology and the corporations that monetize them is reversed. In Follow the Drinking Gourd, an immersive virtual reality experience reverse engineers the Google search algorithm to investigate the lost histories of the African diaspora through music. Talkinghead finds robotic news pundits mining social media for discussion topics and playing out an infinite debate fueled by public opinion. And, in Machine Gaze, Pichardo draws out a digital facsimile of himself by mining 20 years of profile images from social media and training a neural network to create warped portraits.
ARTISTS
Michael Espinoza is a non-binary, multi-racial, multi-disciplinary artist whose work embodies and embraces the undone artistic practices of Queer Ancestors lost to persecution, disease, fatal sadness, and closets. Their current practice utilizes embroidery, quilting, digital media, collage, and photography to explore sex and sexuality, intersectional identities, intimacy, the body, and contact with the dead. They have previously exhibited live performance, site-specific installation, and video. Their work can be found in public art collections, digital spaces, domestic and international group shows, and spaces intended for queer joy.
http://www.michaelespinozaart.com
Allan Pichardo is a digital media artist from the Dominican Republic currently based in Portland, Oregon. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Art in Computation Arts and Computer Science from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Allan explores the materiality of digital media and delves into themes of identity and post-truth in our digitally mediated world. His interactive media, virtual reality, and algorithmic compositional works have been showcased at InterAccess in Toronto, Studio XX in Montreal, Babycastles in New York City, and the Fountainhead Residency in Miami, FL.
Organizer
Founded in 2018, Carnation Contemporary is a cooperative gallery supporting emerging and mid-career artists from Portland and the surrounding region. Nearly one-third of Carnation’s artists live outside of the Portland metropolitan area, representing rural western Oregon, eastern Washington, and eastern Oregon. Carnation seeks to contribute to the cultural landscape of Portland by creating a space for experimental projects in addition to critical and contemporary artwork.