BE THERE
Feeling Lucky?Presented by Mixed Greens Gallery March 13, 2008- April 12, 2008Reception: March 13, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmRob Conger
When Rob Conger moved from New Haven to a small studio in bustling Manhattan, he chose the slow, very purposeful medium of latch-hook (his mother’s favorite) to render signs and signifiers of mainstream aspirations: lottery tickets, portraits of Alan Greenspan and the most powerful and philanthropic CEOs. Inspired by the tedious and lackluster complexity of financial systems, Conger reminds us that it is these very structures that govern our daily existence. Conger has focused on chance, physical strength and corporate dollars to talk about power. In this new series, he zeroes in on the originators of modern convenience by including a group of over a dozen inventors and intellectuals who have shaped our current way of life, such as Dr. Adler, inventor of the remote control, Mike Lazardidrids, inventor of the BlackBerry and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the internet. He puts their portraits next to the portraits of media personalities like Tim Russert and Tyra Banks, recognizable and powerful arbiters of news, who serve as bridges between business and the general public. To provide greater context, Conger also includes his self-made pop-up book, “Blow Your Wad,” which details the almost certain futility of tying to get rich quick. If you follow the sound of a ticker tape, you will find Conger’s stop motion animation at the back of the gallery, dramatizing the ups and downs of Wall Street. Both use other traditional craft media in order to explore the interplay between money and the human condition. Rob Conger received his MFA from Yale University in 1994 and has been showing in New York City and beyond ever since. His first solo show was at Mixed Greens in 2003. His most recent group venues include OkOk Gallery, Seattle, WA (2007), Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, ID (2007), Massachusetts College of Art (2006), The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL (2004), Virginia Commonwealth University (2004), and John Michael Kohler Center for the Arts, Sheboygan, WI (2003). His work is featured in the book “By Hand: The Use of Craft in Contemporary Art” (2007).
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