The Course of Empire

Koplin DelRio Gallery, Culver City, November 4-December 21, 2006

Koplin Del Rio Gallery is pleased to present The Course of Empire, an exhibition of new works by Laurie Hogin. The show’s title refers to Thomas Cole’s 1836 allegorical paintings depicting five states in the course of empire, from "Savage" through "Pastoral", "Consummation", "Destruction" and "Desolation". It includes paintings, sculpture and costumes that describe narratives that form a wry commentary on various contemporary cultural and political currents in the U.S.

Best known for her allegorical paintings of mutant plants and animals in languishing, overgrown landscape settings or posed as though for classical still life or portraiture, Hogin’s current interests include the idea that entire narratives are suggested by single images, objects, or collections of objects, in much the way that the history of allegorical and still life painting, advertising images, and fashions imply stories and myths that speak to our desires.

The subject matter of these narratives includes the idea that the ecosystems of industry, commerce, desire and identity shape the lay of the land and change the very essence of nature. Angry little songbirds, fashion-model monkeys, reptiles patterned with the colors of industrial commodities, cosmetics, and modern media sit on rocky outcroppings as though arranged for retail display. Allegorical animal and plant specimens sport the colors of branded commodities and nationalist identity. Allegorical costumes describe characters that might inhabit this proto-apocalyptic world.

 

Brandlands

Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, September 8-October 14, 2006

Peter Miller Gallery is pleased to present Brandlands, a show of new paintings by Laurie Hogin. Brandlands refers to an environment where the products of industry have infiltrated every last corner, where the global system of production has maneuvered its way into the natural world, and the landscape itself has taken on industrial hues. This is a world where the very DNA of all organic life has been altered and manipulated by the culture of commerce, where identity is replaced with product, where Badlands morph into Big Box Lands.

 

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