statement

I am interested in the practice of documenting imagined moments in time and place, captured through images of individuals with whom I share physical space. I am motivated by moments of contemplative neurosis during the process of filtering these images through the lens of one’s own personal human experience and archive of memory.

The “Friends 4 Ever” body of work explores the concept of constructing identity. The documentation of this exercise, in the form of paintings, prints, installation, and video, is intended to complicate internal and external notions of myself through comparative and performative analysis while creating a space where difference is articulated. Much of this work is motivated by periods of flux and feelings of loss in my life, and an attempt to claim ownership over my own fluid sense of identity.

This project began when I “friended” 76 other Gabriel Mejias on Facebook and was given a gamut of images and information on their lives. These individuals with whom I share a name live diverse lives and hail from different places all over the globe- Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Guadalajara, Bogota, Lima, London, and Manila, among others. The prints featured in this exhibition are representations of their profile pics, painstakingly recreated using myself. For each portrayal, I obtained and even sometimes created similar attire, grew out facial and head hair, acquired necessary props such as live chickens, and tanned my skin accordingly in order to embody these individuals’ self-representations.

The paintings in this series are quick interpretations of daily uploads from the Gabriel Mejias that would show up in my newsfeed over a period of two months. As soon as a new image went up, I would create a painting based on the image within hours. The act of painting these images and the manner of installation is intended as a gesture of monumentalizing and creating history from these fleeting moments and deliberately censored lives as seen through the filtered matrix of social networking.

bio

Gabriel Mejia was born in the Chicago area and began incorporating art into his daily life at a very early age due to his fascination with the visual storytelling ability of comic books and graphic novels. Upon receiving his undergraduate degree from Northern Illinois University, he relocated to Orange County, California. There, he taught high school, while beginning his art practice in the Los Angeles area. In 2004, he returned home to Chicago where he taught at Jones College Prep and continued to create and exhibit his work. In 2009, Gabe accepted a fellowship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to begin working toward an MFA degree. He continues to look for inspiration in “crowded chaos and the moments of respite within.”

awards

Graduate Research Scholars Fellowship, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009-2012
Best Emerging Artist, Reader's Choice, Chicago Reader, 2008
Chicago Artists' Coalition “Artist To Watch,” 2007
Around the Coyote, Curator's Choice, 2006, 2008

publications

Chicago Tribune—The Red Eye, October 2008
Chicago Reader, June 2008
CS Design, October 2007
Chicago Home & Garden, September 2007
Chicago Artists' News, September 2007
Boi, September 2006
Juxtapoz, February 2006
Where, February 2006

education

MFA, 2012 (expected)

MA, 2011
University of Wisconsin-Madison

B.S. Art Education, 1998
Northern Illinois University