D.C. Artist Jonathan Monaghan Displays at University Gallery
11/08/2019
By David Perry
Yuko Oda was Jonathan Monaghan鈥檚 professor at New York Institute of Technology from 2007 to 2008, overseeing his Senior Project I and II courses. They stayed in touch and even exhibited in a group show together in China at the Beijing Today Museum.
Oda, who joined UML鈥檚 Art & Design faculty in 2017, teaches 3D/Expanded Media. And Monaghan is now a Washington, D.C.-based artist whose work paints a portrait of an increasingly angst-filled, technologically driven future.
鈥淚 really think it鈥檚 beneficial to invite different people to show their work and speak to students,鈥� says Oda. 鈥淲ith Jonathan, I wanted students to see that animation does not have to be another commercial medium, but it can also be something that鈥檚 fine art or studio art.鈥�
Monaghan鈥檚 exhibit at the University Gallery is on South Campus through Nov. 21. It includes sculpture, print, installation work and, perhaps most striking, video work.
His work is his vision of 鈥渁nxiety about the future,鈥� he told a lecture hall of students and faculty in Weed Hall recently. Under bubblegum pink skies, four helmeted, gas mask-wearing horsemen gallop atop security camera-laden horses. The horsemen tote paper bags with logos resembling that of Whole Foods Market. It鈥檚 part of 鈥淥ut of the Abyss,鈥� a 19-minute video installation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a memorial in a way,鈥� Monaghan said. The work was sparked by the soda company鈥檚 iconic animation ads depicting polar bears slugging down soda. Monaghan combines 鈥渢he natural and artificial鈥� by showing polar bears dying from a more recent photographic setting 鈥� the effects of climate change.
The 鈥済hostly image鈥� of the bear is meant to 鈥渨ake you up and examine the world around us,鈥� said Monaghan.
He put the work in context, showing other artists鈥� recontextualization of logos, including Andy Warhol鈥檚 1962 Campbell鈥檚 soup can.
Devoid of humans and rife with spoofs of corporate branding, Monaghan calls his apocalyptic vision 鈥減sychologically driven imagery.鈥� He has exhibited at the Sundance Film Festival, the Walters Museum of Art and the Palais de Tokyo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to show students a variety of things,鈥� says Oda. 鈥淲e should be bringing them fresh new ideas from other areas, too. 鈥� I think the way he brought historical context to his work, Jonathan showed the students how to look at things 鈥� including art history 鈥� in a new way.鈥�
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about where we鈥檙e headed in the future,鈥� Monaghan told the students during his lecture. 鈥淎nd I think art has a way of helping us come to grips with that.鈥�