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PAST Exhibitions & EVENTS
House Party: New Paintings by Eric Syvertson
Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 8, 2014-6-9PM
Show Runs:
February 8 - March 22
House Party, an exhibition of new paintings by Eric Syvertson, creates a complex allegory exploring how the current oil boom in his home state of North Dakota is analogous to a party mentality. The consequences of over indulgence are ignored and the attraction of instant gratification is embraced. Images hinting at a lawn littered with plastic cups and other trash points only to the more permanent disruption of spider webs of pipeline altering the landscape.
The hyperrealism of his oil paintings create stark moody vignettes of a party at the apex of its reverie and the morning after. Borrowing screen shots from YouTube party videos as reference material Syvertson sees the compositions as a collaboration “between the unknown partygoer and myself as I curate and render moments from their videos”. The crude disposable nature of the video clip is lost by the act of painting; it becomes a moment of significance. Other paintings in the show take on a more symbolic role in the narrative, such as the portrait of a singular red plastic cup, serving as a reminder to “objects that are destined to outlive their usefulness.” The paintings capture the strange abandon of unchecked indulgences as well as the unsettling aftermath of enduring consequences.
Eric Syvertson received his BFA at Minnesota State University. Syvertson is a current MFA candidate at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, continuing SooVAC’s long-standing commitment to annually exhibiting the work of MCAD students. Eric has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions throughout Minnesota and North Dakota. This will be his first solo exhibition in Minnesota.
