The School of Art, Art History & Design congratulates alumnus Michael Villarreal on his upcoming exhibition AFTER LIGHT at Undercurrents in Brooklyn, NY curated by Daina Mattis! The exhibition runs from Oct. 3 - Nov. 9, 2019.
About the exhibition:
Windows have a universal impact; they let light in, frame our view of the exterior, act as portals into another space, and aptly provide an escape/exit. In the 18th century Western Civilization, shopkeepers began integrating large openings and glass windows to brighten a dark shop-room, yet more significantly to draw attention from the outside inwards. Alternatively, audiences from sidewalk pedestrians—a marketing strategy bridging the domestic/private/familiar and the public/commercial/foreign—became a middle-class pastime with arcades developing, bridging class and the practice of window shopping. After Light spring-boards from this social phenomena of the idea of looking but not buying. One can buy a window accessory, a view, even airspace, but ironically no one can purchase daylight. The artists’ work in After Light punch holes into the capitalistic mirage that everything is for sale. One cannot buy time; By churning the impossibility of commodifying daylight, these artists throw shade on access, ownership/tangibility, utility, and class in our current social, political, and ecological climate.
The article in "Artforum":
https://go.unl.edu/u4jm