CHRIS BOGIA
Night in the Village
May 14 - July 2, 2022
Press Release
Mrs. is proud to announce Chris Bogia’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, titled, Night in the Village.
“It is far better to light a candle,” goes an ancient Persian saying, “than to curse the darkness.”
But really — why stop there? Why not light a lantern? Why not make it a pumpkin-sized pale-white rice-paper lantern? Why not string dozens of them down an allee of Brazilian blue jacaranda trees and wait through the night for the piping spirits of Spring?
Or to put it perhaps more simply, what would Chris Bogia do? If the sculptor, painter and denizen of Queens can be relied upon to do one thing, it is to be constructive. Bogia gets constructive as multipliciously as he can. He starts by building from the simple materials (yarn, wood, burlap, paint) that he has been experimenting and working with since his youth when his mother drove him weekly to Michael’s for crafting supplies. Within the sculptural frames that have become a hallmark of his work, Bogia gathers armfuls of vividly colorful cultural references — from India, Denmark, China, Mexico, Germany and even Queens — and melds them together with touches of Erté, Eames and Disney. The results are original visions with a haunting sense of déjà vu. Nuanced nightscapes of soft-splashing deco fountains. Dim interiors lit by a snow-white mandala moon. Candy-colored Memphis candles and, in the center of it all, a six-foot ink-black lantern.
For a day when rancorous dialogues of contemporary art can feel like an angry march of flambeaux, Bogia’s show is a powerful argument for putting a candle in the window, too.
If art can go into battle, art can leave a light on.
Night in the Village is on view at Mrs., 6040 56th Dr., Maspeth, Queens, NY 11378 through July 2, 2022.
-David Colman
Chris Bogia received his MFA from Yale University and his BA from New York University. Bogia was a recent recipient of the Jackson Pollock - Lee Krasner Foundation Grant; a Queens Council for the Arts, New Works Grant; as well as a Rema Hort Mann Foundation Artist Community Engagement Grant. He was also an artist in residence at the Queens Museum Studio Program from 2017-2018. Recent exhibitions include Shulamit Nazarian, Los Angeles, CA; Grizzly Grizzly, Philadelphia, PA; Kate Werble, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, and the New Museum, New York, and Mrs., Maspeth, NY. Bogia is the co-founder of Fire Island Artist Residency, the world’s first LGBTQ artist residency.
For available works, press inquiries and additional information, please contact hello@mrsgallery.com.