Curated by LYK Art Projects,”Perfected Scene” the upcoming show at John Doe Gallery features work by Jeff Liao, Jaye Rhee and Jason River, whose photographic works share a sense of manipulated stage-like worlds. Jeff Liao creates cityscapes with Utopian undercurrents, Jaye Rhee questions authenticity in making art, and Jason River creates enigmatic spaces with bare bodies and everyday objects.
Jeff Liao is known for his large-scale panoramic images which combine multiple exposures of the same site taken over the course of several hours or days. He captures the complexity and diversity of New York City’s five boroughs throughout his projects, focusing on places in transition. For instance, his large horizontal photograph “Coney Island from Steeplechase Pier, ” depict realistic images of people at Coney island, such as the amusement park or the beach, while utilizing light and angle that could never naturally occur in a single exposure.
Jaye Rhee multimedia work encompasses video, performance, photography, and installation. The photographs shown in this exhibition are from her video work “Bambi”. The background in the video is comprised of faux taxidermy deer, flimsy furniture, and artificial grass. A real puppy trots around in this made-up nature. By forthrightly showing us the trick, it raises the question: What is authentic? The resulting artwork itself seems paradoxically genuine.
In his photographs Jason River refers to immigration, relocation to the city, and the related identity issues through depiction of nude models with allusions to old masters paintings. In recent years, the artist started to apply bubble wraps on models’ bodies as if they were the packaged statues ready to be shipped. Each wooden crate used by a model to stand or sit on, indicates the year of the model’s arrival to New York. River’s new series “Uncovering,” utilizes color photography which enhances further the sense of artificiality to create alluring vignettes from an enigmatic fantasy world.
Perfected Scene
Jeff Liao | Jaye Rhee | Jason River
May 10 -27, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursay, May 10, 2018
6:-00 – 8:00 PM
JOHN DOE
112 waterbury st | brooklyn, ny 11206