Joe Mangrum - Chrysalis Stage

Joe Mangrum, Retail Transmutation at the Sunshine Museum, Beijing, China 2008. 84" x 15" x 15"

Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art (Brooklyn, New York)

June 11 - July 13, 2009

Public Reception: June 12, 2009  6 - 9 pm

Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art presents “Chrysalis Stage,” an installation and sculpture by Joe Mangrum. This is the artist’s second solo show at the gallery.  This event will be in conjunction with the Williamsburg Gallery Association 2nd Friday where local art spaces will be open late.

Joe Mangrum’s installations have been shared with national and international audiences. Joe began his training as a painter at The Art Institute of Chicago. While traveling abroad, he moved toward installations of found objects. He continues to explore multiple mediums and materials in his work. Many of Joe’s recurring themes explore our relationship to modern life juxtaposed with our organic nature and desire for freedom. Joe examines the indomitable power of creation in relation to the grid of the imposed structures of cities and the hegemonies of power constructs. He often employs the use of iconographic and spiritual forms such as the mandala and the pyramid in surprising configurations. Joe’s inspiration is served by the challenge of maintaining a complex dialogue with the viewer encapsulated by our current world of affairs.

In 2008 Joe was invited to create site-specific installations for the All Points West and Mile High Music Festivals in the US. Past accolades include the 2003 Lorenzo de Medici Award in “New Media” at the Florence Biennial for his striking piece Fragile.

Mangrum states on his works, “My greatest desire is to reveal a deeper truth by exploring the visual experience. I am interested in naturally formed phenomena devoid of artificial boundaries and their contrast to structures like a pyramid or grid. I am intent on introducing references to biology and elements that humanize the effect that each of us has on this universal world. By magnifying the outlook of a flourishing sustainability with impending disaster, I aspire to better understand the consequences we face in our experience of modern life.”

Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art, established in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1999 and directed by Tracy Causey-Jeffery is committed to exhibiting vibrant contemporary art by living artists: both mid-career and emerging.

Ch’i Contemporary Fine Art. 293 Grand Street, between Roebling and Havemeyer. Williamsburg. Brooklyn, NY  11211.

Phone 718 218 9347 / 718 218 8939

www.chicontemporaryfineart.com