Kent Rogowski's collages are created with pieces of puzzles which are cut from the same die but depict different, unrelated images. Using these photographic fragments as his palette, Rogowski creates entirely new compositions by his careful mapping of their collisions. The intermixing of these glossy idealizations of flowers, bucolic scenery and man-made wonders results in disorienting and unique fractured fantastical landscapes. In photographing his completed objects, Rogowski transforms them yet again. Shifting the scale of the photographic image modulates the grid-like uniformity produced by the borders of the puzzle pieces, diminishing or increasing the order they exert over the chaos of the constructed image.
"I fell in love with Love=Love's thought-provoking, wry commentary on contemporary culture immediately, so I'm truly thrilled to be exhibiting the work" comments gallery owner Jen Bekman. "Kent's practice and product relate to, and illuminate, topics of enduring interest to me. First and foremost, the layers of his process are a meditation on the photographic image as an object, rather than as a document. The discordance that results from the recasting of these clean, bright, relentlessly happy representations of flora, blue skies, and exotic lands quite literally fractures the over-saturated, hyper-real imagery that's so characteristic of our modern mass culture; it takes the American obsession with order, newness and perfection, and recasts it as mayhem and unreality."
Kent Rogowski's works are provocative and whimsical manipulations of objects and images that surround us in our daily lives. From teddy bears, to jigsaw puzzles, to self-help books, he uses and alters mass-produced consumer products as a vehicle for self-expression. By transforming the generic into the specific and personal, Rogowski questions what these products communicate about us, as well as the role they play in our culture.
In 2000, Rogowski received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design where he is now a Visiting Critic. His first monograph, Bears, was published by PowerHouse Books in 2007. In June 2007, he had his debut solo exhibition of the same name at Foley Gallery in New York City.
Special LTD Edition Print on 20x200:
20x200.com have released a Limited edition print from the Love = Love series. Prices start at $20.00 for 8x10", $200.00 for 16x20" and $2,000 for 30x40" prints.
Kent Rogowski: Love = Love
Until 14 June
Jen Bekman Gallery
6 Spring Street
New York
www.jenbekman.com
www.20x200.com
www.kentrogowski.com
www.bearsthebook.com
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