Julie Blackmon: Midwest Materials

The Fahey/Klein Gallery is pleased to present Midwest Materials, a solo exhibition of photographs by celebrated artist, Julie Blackmon.  The works on view are a collection of imperfectly perfect narrative images that focus on the complexities and contradictions of modern life. 

Blackmon’s photographs are a deft mash-up of wit, dark humor, and irony - with sly references to iconic American works of art for which the artist has gained such renown. Her recontextualization of 19th Century paintings brings to life details of childhood exploration and imaginative play in a world largely void of adults. Finding insight and inspiration in the seeming monotony of her “generic American hometown,” Blackmon constructs a captivating, fictitious world that can be at times both playful and menacing. Set amid the front porches, backyards, and half-deserted streets of her Midwestern town, Blackmon’s satiric tableaus are often littered with the disposable artifacts that we turn our eyes away from: potato chip bags and fast-food wrappers, discarded toys and magazines. Her unblinking eye verges on the surreal, lending an irreverent snap to her unique world. Her busy, imaginary narratives walk a darkly humorous line between lighthearted Americana and the chaos and occasional darkness of our daily lives.