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| He Dreamed – 18" x 24" – 2018 |
JOIN THE GOLD RUSH! MAKE MONEY FAST! These and other enticements to “get rich quick” are found surrounding a twisting, twining papercut oak tree made of cut-up comic books in Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik’s new solo exhibition, “Dreams, Prophecies, and Visions” at The MAIN Gallery in Newhall, California (September 18 – October 12, 2018). His work is strongly anchored in myths and stories — often those of the bible, but also extending past those borders into a broader exploration of cultural narratives. His papercuts are a riot of color and voices, made of cut-up comic books he has reassembled to tell stories of dream and prophecy.
“He Dreamed” is the centerpiece of the show, based on the story of the first discovery of gold in California, in nearby Placerita Canyon. According to the legend of the Oak of the Golden Dream, wandering laborer Francisco Lopez fell asleep under an oak tree and dreamed of gold, then awoke to find some in the very ground he had slept on.
“But that’s not the whole story,” adds the artist. “Lopez was a university-educated metallurgist, and his success wasn’t from luck or a vision, but from actual training and experience.” Brynjegard-Bialik’s papercut is a gorgeous, sexy oak tree spreading its branches across the sky, and includes the super hero Sandman — who operates in the land of dreams — as well as cut-up get-rich-quick advertisements, “because I want to play with the distinction between prophetic visions in dreams and the realization of those dreams through individual work and effort.”
The rest of the show plays in that same arena; Brynjegard-Bialik’s work is a mash-up of traditional sources and contemporary story-telling techniques, recontextualizing bits and pieces of his childhood comic book collection to delve deeply into our oldest and newest stories. He uses Superman and other undocumented aliens in portraits of American immigrant dreamers, he builds a protective whirlwind of cloud and fire from comics featuring the Invisible Woman, and imagines Doctor Strange wandering the rocky hillside of the ancient and mystical city of Tzfat.
“Brynjegard-Bialik brings these different types of stories together in the complex but clean layers of his papercuts,” wrote Shana Dambrot for KCET Artbound, “creating new meanings for the world's oldest stories as he engineers these combinations with the architectural presence of stained glass, the whimsy of gilded-age fairy tales, and the meditative aura of illuminated manuscripts.”
The opening reception for “Dreams, Prophecies, and Visions: You did WHAT to my comics?!?” will be held at The MAIN Gallery on Thursday, September 20, from 7 to 10 pm.
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“Dreams, Prophecies, and Visions: You did WHAT to my comics?!?”
Exhibition dates: September 18 – October 12, 2018
Opening reception: Thursday, September 20, from 7 to 10 pm
The MAIN Gallery
24266 Main Street
Newhall, California 91321
(661) 290-2255
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