June 8 - July 14, 2007

Celebrating Ares

The Greek god of war, Ares, is not the military hero the Romans know as Mars. Ares has no morals, and is associated with violence and savagery more than battle. Calling upon him for assistance will not bring victory, it will merely guarantee a bloodbath. This exhibit includes paintings by three artists who use the theme of violence as an important element within their narrative.

Laura Ball’s paintings challenge the viewer’s preconceived notions of gender and aggression. Her female figures have no qualms shooting weapons, inflicting pain and emerging victorious. Historically, men have dominated ritualized violence, and depictions of aggression rarely presented women in any role other than victim. Laura’s paintings break through this format and show us how ingrained traditional gender roles still are.

Laurie Hogin similarly looks to traditional forms of representation, however her subjects bristle and growl at their condition. Enraged monkeys howl and rodents snarl, their inherently violent nature mutated into a domesticated fetish for the wild, their habitat converted to a diorama of some imagined natural world that has never truly existed.

Caleb Weintraub weaves violence through his metanarrative like weft through warp. Bright eyed children become soldiers and saviors as they fight off a brutal invasion. But the violence isn’t restricted to the subject matter, as Caleb switches from a controlled, supertight brushstroke to sweeps, sprays, drips and slashes. The violence in these paintings is glorified, fetishized and embraced.