Life is But a Dream

This spring Agora Gallery proudly presents Life is But a Dream, a group show exploring the surreality of memory and identity in a world too often constructed to resemble a mere product of the shelf of popular culture.

Comprising 17 artists, the primary link joining them together is how memory can be reshaped by the imagination. These artists all share in examining the content of what they remember, with social and familial life acting as a lens through which they reexamine recollected moments.

Maria José Cabral, toNI Altenstrasser, Jennifer Morrow, Olivia O'Keeffe, Margret Carde, and Katja Yoon use memoried experience as the raw material out of which they synthesize dream-like scenes. By contrast, Gottfried Roemer and Benny De Grove use the realist precedent of the photograph to create defamiliarized landscapes and portraits. Amber Warren and GLIL advantageously use mixed-media and collage techniques, respectively, to realize free-associative commentary on their chosen subjects. And Svetlana Nelson, Olga Loschinina, Samantha Messias, Jutta Schulte, Ifat Shatzky, Paciel González, and Satoco Yamamoto utilize a wide breadth of media to challenge the presumption that memory can only be understood as something that occupies the past.

Life is But a Dream will open May 22nd with a reception Thursday, May 24, 2018 6-8 PM and will remain on view until June 12, 2018. Entrance is free.