Improbable Self: Notes From the Void
Opening Reception: Friday, June 3rd, 7-10pm
The Ice Machine + Swift, 9pm
Meghan Petras, Untitled, dyed and cut fabric with rope
36” x 32”, 2010
Inna Babaeva, Martin Bromirski, Catherine Czacki, JJ Garfinkel, Nathan Gwynne, Jason Hoelscher, JR
Larson, Frank Lentini, Christina Leung, David Malek, Jeffrey Scott Mathews, Japeth Mennes, Oliver
Michaels, Matt Miller, John L. Moore, Meghan Petras, Sasha Rudensky, Carolyn Salas, David Scanavino.
• St. Cecilia Gallery, (3rd Floor) 21 Monitor St, Brooklyn, NY
• Opening: Friday, June 3, 7-10
• Open June 4, 5 & 11, 12-5
Art Book Club Presents Improbable Self: Notes From the Void, curated by Fran Holstrom, featuring
artworks selected from 19 artists, and a musical duo, whose work suggests the dislocation of self, out-of-
body experience, duplicity, reflection & distortion.
Conceived in two parts, the first group of artworks depict a centralized figure that is barely there,
seemingly caught in the process of disappearing. Degradation of the singular, unique original epitomizes
our fear of death, or worse, the slow slippage of selfhood into obscurity, the unknown--the void. Almost
as a cure for this, intermingled with the above, are artworks that present a solid twin, a replacement or
stand-in; such redundancy insures protection and survival.
Although the outward appearances of works in the show are visibly different - and delivered by a range of
motivations - there is a deep, playful and brooding force connecting the artists. Inna Babaeva’s tipped
bucket oozes ectoplasm forever caught in stasis, and Meghan Petras’ coyly draped painting is freed from
the skeleton of a stretcher. Meanwhile, Oliver Michaels’ digital dissections leave only clues to a
photograph’s original content, and Jason Hoelscher mockingly takes the reigns by rewriting Guy Debord’s
seminal text with a lisp. Materially and conceptually Notes from the Void puts a spotlight on the grim
poetics of a generation.
The theme of this show was inspired by Bruce Nauman’s model for observing oneself as an impossible
double, from a distance, once removed as if in a state of dislocation. Almost as if haunted by this vision,
Nauman points to our continual quest for a secure, more fully-realized and understood self.
art book club presents is the first curatorial
project tackled as a collective and features three
floors of contemporary art, live performances
plus a mixer and artists’ talks. Each project has a
unique vision and therefore, a unique press
release. For more information visit our website
at: https://artbookclub.wordpress.com.
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