An Inexhaustive Study of Power with Laurel Roth Hope
From Catharine Clark Gallery Press Release:
An Inexhaustive Study of Power imagines an immersive space that employs “the aesthetics of a richly appointed apartment overlooking a world on the brink of societal collapse.”
In referencing design elements found in sources as myriad as presidential portraits to religious art, Diaz Hope and Roth Hope question how power is evoked and reified through visual forms. The artists note that “we have recently begun to realize that a growing undercurrent in our work, both collaboratively and individually, has to do with power – who has it, how it is built into systems, how it changes over time, and who benefits from it.” For their exhibition, Diaz Hope and Roth Hope transform the gallery into a suite of decorated and furnished rooms, with overt nods to the ornamental style found across countless “selfie-ready” social media posts. Their artworks, while seamlessly blending in with their surroundings, invite deeper – and occasionally darkly humorous -- reflection the political and environmental costs of material adornment.