New Work

June 5 - July 3, 2004

Reception: Saturday, June 5, 6 - 8 pm

In the project space, Jason Rogenes presents a sculpture relating to the particular shape of the space. 

Jason Rogenes uses mundane packing materials, such as cardboard and styrofoam, to create sculptural constructions that conjure a sense of utopia.  Firmly rooted in the consumer waste of the here and now, Jason's towering space stations project into the future, or more accurately, into visions of the future, visions that are equally defined by utopian desire and factual failure.  As his sculptures dissect the manifold positive and negative spaces of the found styrofoam used to protect the valuable electronics we buy, they become an indirect reflection of our consumerist desires.  Their mesmerizing attraction is less a result of material perfection, but rather from a handmade aesthetic that undermines their monumental gesture and complex shifts of scale.  Connected to the space by electrical cords and illuminated with fluorescent light from within, Rogenes' sculptures radiate a utopian sense of presence. 

Jason Rogenes received his MFA degree at the University Santa Barbara.  He studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and his work has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Pomona College Museum, at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, and at the Chicago International Sculpture Exhibition, Navy Pier Walk, curated by David Pagel.  His work has been included in Recycle Renew at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton; in Out of Site - Fictional Architectural Spaces at the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; in Megalitechtronic at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, Maine; in Playground at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine; in Utopien Heute? Kunst zwischen Vision und Alltag at the Wilhelm Hack Museum / Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Germany; in Fresh at the The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; in The Altoids Curiously Strong Collection traveling exhibition; in Post-Millennial Fizzy at the Beaver College Art Gallery, Philadelphia, and in Are We Touched? Identities from Outer Space.at the Huntington Beach Art Center.  This is Jason Rogenes' third exhibition at the gallery.