Spagnuolo Gallery Presents Animations and Digital Prints by Jonathan Monaghan

Mothership
Animations and Digital Prints by Jonathan Monaghan
August 31 – October 16, 2016
Opening Reception September 22, 6-8 pm
jonmonaghan.com

Mothership is a survey of artist Jonathan Monaghan’s prints and animations created from 2013-2015. Monaghan draws on a wide array of references, ranging from ancient mythology to science fiction to baroque architecture, to create otherworldly and humorous imagery and narratives.  At the center of the exhibition are two computer-animated films, Mothership and Escape Pod, which follow mythical beasts through surreal environments evoking collective fears surrounding power and authority.  Also on view are works from a series of prints entitled After Fabergé, which transform that iconic symbol of status and wealth into SciFi quasi-objects composed of modern furniture, computer parts, human anatomy, and historic architecture. Set on stark white backgrounds and rendered with hyper-detailed glossy surfaces, the eggs evoke a commercial product yet their function is eerily ambiguous. 

Artist Jonathan Monaghan (born in 1986, in New York) creates prints, sculptures, and video installations that challenge the boundaries between the real, the imagined, and the virtual. Pulling from wide-ranging sources such as science fiction and ancient mythology, he creates bizarre, yet compelling, narratives and imagery. His work has been exhibited widely, including at The Sundance Film Festival, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, and The Hirshhorn Museum. His work has been featured by The Washington Post, VICE, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, and The Village Voice. Monaghan is represented by bitforms gallery in New York.

About the Gallery
The Spagnuolo Art Gallery is the primary exhibition space for the Department of Art and Art History at Georgetown University. Our mission is to exhibit art by working artists, provide a space for student exhibitions, and sponsor educational arts programming in a setting accessible to the university community.

Where
We are located in the Walsh Building,
1221 36th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20057 
Hours are Wednesday – Friday 12-7, Saturday 12-5, and Sunday 11-4.
The gallery is free and open to the public.