Press Release - "A Modern Guilt" by Meryl Pataky
Meryl Pataky
”Jesus Fucking Christ?!”
Silk & plastic flowers, bees, glass tubing, phosphor, argon, mercury, and resin
48 x 144 inches
2020
pt. 2:
A Modern Guilt
Meryl Pataky
Opening - September 12, 2020
Showing Through: Friday, October 2, 2020
Schedule a private viewing
info@part2gallery.com
I live cement
I hate this street
Give dirt to me
I've got lament
This human form
Where I was born
I now repent
---The Pixies, Caribou, 1987
pt. 2 Gallery is pleased to present A Modern Guilt, a solo exhibition by Oakland based sculptor Meryl Pataky. In her second solo exhibition with the gallery, Pataky works predominantly with neon to consider the simultaneous decay of the natural world, and the origins and implications of society’s impact of this decay. At the same time, she reflects on the history of neon as a medium, and its own complicity in a capitalist and colonist structure.
A Modern Guilt recognizes the intersectional nature of societal, environmental and socio-political problems. As the impact of self-serving behavior cripples both economies and the environment, a global pandemic exacerbates humanity’s impact. Self-prioritizing behaviors prove to have disastrous long term consequences for the environment—with plastic waste and greenhouse gases increasing exponentially. The undeniable relation to the capitalist structure cannot be ignored, living in a for-profit system prioritizes expression of self through consumerism and commodification. Pataky’s work investigates the origins of this mentality: “A big question I'm asking is about whether or not this is fated to happen, or rather whether we are already on track for demise because it is ingrained in the human character and consciousness—to fly too close to the sun, too build too high. I am reminded of myths, legends, and even biblical stories like Prometheus and Icarus, Babylon and more.”
Due to its long history embedded in the capitalist system of consumerism, neon is an appropriate medium to address these behaviors with. A large mixed media sculpture anchors the exhibition, using approachable aesthetics like florals to provide a chilling message. Installed on a large wall of plastic wildflowers including Boreal native species like blackberries and Poppies, the word “repent” glows in a menacing goldenrod tone. While redemption has deep ties in Christianity, Pataky searches further in history for a connection to the ancient Greeks, for whom the concept signified changing course. In the Talmud, the idea of redemption was focused on ethical self-transformation. This emphasis on a paradigm shift rather than on grief and sin removes the ego from the necessity of immediate change. Repent is a call to action, demanding recognition that there’s no time for self-pity in the wake of larger global and societal issues.
While Pataky has made flower walls with living flowers in the past, the installation warns of a future where only plastic replicas remain. The plastic flowers in this piece include replicas of poppies and blackberries, native of the Boreal region. Yet unlike the indigenous people that cultivated those lands and wildflowers, our exploitation of the land leaves no room to treasure these natural beauties. A scattering of dead bees completes the piece, a warning of the dire consequences of our carelessness. While the decision to use plastic flowers is a rational one (the flowers die in just a few days) they also pose an interesting question about the artwork as an artifact. Neon works are made to be completely rid of impurity and run on low voltage, making them suitable as a relic. This method of storytelling through a to-be artifact supplants neon’s origins in commercialism and consumerism, renewed with a didactic purpose.
Meryl Pataky
”Tower #5”
Copper Etching
4.5 x 2.5 inches
Edition of 10
2020
Another theme that presents itself in a number of works in the exhibition further Pataky’s investigation into a longtime passion of her—Tarot, specifically The Tower, a card she has drawn multiple times recently. The Tower suggests the necessity of radical change—that it is essential to destroy in order to rebuild. The repeated nature of this card in Pataky’s journey suggests that on a larger scale, that pivotal moment is now. Pataky etches representations of these cards on copper with acid, archiving the ephemeral card drawn into a lasting relic.
A Modern Guilt also introduces a collaborative body of work with textile artist, Allie Felton. An array of sculptural objects including lawn chairs, pillows, and planters are woven out of repurposed plastics, including the wrapping from the plastic flowers used in the exhibition. Found photographic slides are woven as well, lost to memory and nostalgia. As described by Felton, “Everything in these photos are dead. The people and the landscapes...even the landmarks and structures are disintegrated and dead.” Removed from their owners, this ephemera, like the plastic wrapping, is trash; yet the works created by Felton and Pataky demonstrate that there are other possibilities than trash as a final destination. By encasing these slides, interwoven with wildflowers in plastic, Felton and Pataky preserve these memories, echoing millenia of burial traditions.
As a whole, these collaborative works, as well as Pataky’s work in neon and copper investigate ideas of longevity and legacy through the act of creating relics and artifacts. With the unfortunate stench of death in the air, and the fortunate fragrance of social uprising, we must consider how we will be remembered, and more importantly what world will we leave behind?
Meryl Pataky
”Revolution”
Clear glass filled with Xenon, dried Larkspur (wildflower), paint, wooden box, transformer
6 x 36 x 4 inches
2020
Originally from South Florida, Pataky moved to San Francisco in 2002 to attend the Academy of Art University. She fell in love with the tactile nature of sculpture and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture. An artist of many disciplines and mediums, Meryl focuses on the relationship between her own hands and material. Informing her material selection is a meditation on the elements of the periodic table from noble gases to metals and organics. She is aware of the history of her elements from their origins in the universe to their applications in culture and myth. The artist derives deeper meanings from these histories to add layers to her concepts. Both a personal and process driven narrative drive the work further forward.
Meryl is currently working on exhibitions in Oakland, California as well as curating the all-female, all neon exhibition entitled, "She Bends". The exhibition features female benders from around the world.