Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The School of Art at Stephen F. Austin State University and The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House will present “Oil Can Tremolo,” a solo exhibition by Kris Pierce showing Feb. 7 through March 24 at Cole Art Center. The exhibition opens with a reception for the artist from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Pierce investigates the dynamic between virtual and physical identities. He considers how basic emotional aspects of human experience, such as love, fear and sorrow, are presented through modes of communication and interaction through technology. More particularly, he is interested in how individuals identify and position themselves through creative means as a type of reinvention, allowing them to exist as a different person in the digital realm. “Perhaps this is the way they wish to be in real life? Is this an aspirational or dissociated behavior?” the artist asks.
For his exhibition “Oil Can Tremolo,” Pierce presents new multimedia works that explore virtual identity through a real-time gathering of sources from social media platforms including Twitter and TikTok. Concerned with how people project and perceive their own reality, Pierce reflects on the role of avatars in video games and also the trend of main character syndrome – a TikTok phenomenon where people imagine and act out scenarios playing the “main character” in a fictionalized version of their lives. Pierce’s works ask us to consider how aspects of self-assurance and confidence are understood in American culture, and how technology has the potential to transform healthy individualism into a type of harmful narcissism.
Alongside his multimedia works, Pierce presents large paintings employing a retro-cartoon style reminiscent of American comic design from the 1950s and ’60s. Portraying a range of businessmen types, the artist invokes stereotype to draw attention to aspects of interpersonal communication; small signifiers that point to class, aspiration and social mobility. “This glance back serves as a thoughtful reminder that identity is a social construct, regardless of how or when it is mediated,” according to the artist.
Based in Fort Worth, Pierce has exhibited internationally and nationally in museums, galleries and public spaces in solo and group exhibitions including at the Hiroshima Art Center, Japan; CICA Museum, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea; Gallerie Se Konst, Falun, Sweden; Reunion, Zurich, Switzerland; Circuit 12 Contemporary, Dallas; Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio; The Old Jail Art Center, Albany, Texas; The Dallas Museum of Art; RL Window, Ryan/Lee, New York City; and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art / The Momentary, Bentonville Arkansas. Pierce received a BFA in studio art from the University of North Texas, Denton. Visit www.krispierce.com for more information about the artist.
“Oil Can Tremolo” is part of “Persona,” a touring exhibition organized by the Art Galleries at Texas Christian University.
Admission to the exhibition and reception, which is sponsored in part by William Arscott and the Friends of the Visual Arts, is free. The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, SFA’s downtown art gallery, is located at 329 E. Main St. Gallery hours are from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, call (936) 468-5500.