The Hollow Center

I enjoyed attending The Hollow Center exhibition at Smack Mellon last night. I thought the juxtaposition between Mary's oil and acrylic on canvas piece, Hessian Doubt, and her 4 vinyl banners, Funeral Procession (The Hunter), was very intriguing. When my friend, Brian, and I took our initial tour of the space, before reading the artist info, we wondered whether Hessian Doubt was also one of Mary's pieces because it was hung just far enough away from Funeral Procession to create that tension/question. Even though the two pieces were created from two very different mediums, they complimented each other very well. I especially liked the relationship between their respective color palettes.





bottom banner; Funeral Procession (The Hunter), 2012; 4 vinyl banners, each 26''x44''

In general, I really enjoyed the political nature of The Hollow Center exhibition. Another piece I found interesting was Elana Mann's IBD (Improvised Balloon Device), 2007-2011, which featured 6 framed photographs of a woman in a black dress/leggings, partially concealed (her face, notably) by a net full of black balloons, in various positions, standing near an oil rig. There was also a net of full of black balloons mounted above the photographs in the Smack Mellon space. I did not take any photos of this piece, but when I Googled it, I discovered that the 6 photographs featured in The Hollow Center are actually part of a larger project in which Elana Mann also utilizes video, different photographs (including the woman's unconcealed face), and various, unique installations. You can check out the full IBD project here.




If you attended The Hollow Center, what did you think of the exhibition?