Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Childhood Toys Visit the Cold War in Geoffrey Gersten’s “MK-ULTRA Wars”

The childhood toys of surrealist painter Geoffrey Gersten visit the Cold War era in his current exhibition at Copro Gallery, "MK-ULTRA Wars." The show coincides with Anthony Ausgang's equally whimsical exhibition "Catascopes." Gersten takes his title and inspiration from the CIA's mind control program "Project MKUltra," which illegally ran drug testing from the 1950s to early 70s. The project is used as a metaphor for Gersten's paintings, which infuse conflict into otherwise dreamy landscapes populated by candy colored characters.

The childhood toys of surrealist painter Geoffrey Gersten visit the Cold War era in his current exhibition at Copro Gallery, “MK-ULTRA Wars.” The show coincides with Anthony Ausgang’s equally whimsical exhibition “Catascopes.” Gersten takes his title and inspiration from the CIA’s mind control program “Project MKUltra,” which illegally ran drug testing from the 1950s to early 70s. The project is used as a metaphor for Gersten’s paintings, which infuse conflict into otherwise dreamy landscapes populated by candy colored characters. Here, he blurs a line between reality and mind control, using familiar characters like Mickey Mouse and rubber faced teddy bears in the line of fire. This conceptual tug of war is a part of Gersten’s artistic style, which he greatly credits to two artists in particular, Grant Wood and Salvador Dalí. Sourcing Cold War imagery may not sound relevant at first, but the issues society faced during that time have not changed much today. We continue to feel increasing anxiety over the effects of modern technology, the government’s handling of civil matters, and seek better ways to protect our environment. Through the nuances in Gersten’s surrealistic imagery, we can revisit our past and find inspiration to regain control of our future.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Seattle based artist Kari-Lise Alexander's beauties have a norse-like quality true to her Scandinavian roots. They get lost in daydreams in her show "Inflorescence", opening Valentine's Day at Distinction gallery in Escondidio, CA. The title refers to the clusters of flowers they wear, drawn in a style inspired by the Norwegian folk art of rosemaling. Like these complicated twists of branches, her girls seek out and embrace eachother for comfort, melancholy in spite of their prettiness.
Ideas about life and what drives the human soul are shared themes between artists Jana Brike and Timothy Robert Smith. In her works, Latvian artist Jana Brike (covered here) explores the spirit of her inner child through rich, narrative imagery. Los Angeles based painter Timothy Robert Smith creates images based on life experience that are split up into multi-perspectives This weekend, both artists will debut their new series in side by side exhibitions at Copro Gallery in Los Angeles. For her new body of work, titled "Anatomy of Innocence", Jana Brike depicts young people who are coming of age in intimate scenes.
Heidi Taillefer fuses wild animals, machines, and elements of global mythologies in her surreal oil paintings. The mechanized aspects of these works reference the so-called progress of generations past. The artist herself cites her work as being influenced by “Max Ernst, Giorgio deChirico, and Paul Delvaux, and is an original creative fusion of classical figurative painting, surrealism, contemporary realism, and mythology combined with popular figurative traditions ranging from Victorian romanticism to science fiction.” The artist was last mentioned on HiFructose.com here.
Berlin-based artist Yusk Imai creates fragmented monochromatic figures that draw upon a variety of artistic styles. Previously featured on our blog, Imai's work channels themes found in Art Nouveau, as in his ornate detailing, or Surrealism, in more bizarre renderings, to modern day comic books. Often, these themes address the idea of an uncontrollable world all around us, whether through psychology, symbolism, or the supernatural. In his most recent works, Imai tries to understand the psychology behind feelings like forgetfulness and distraction. These explorations often take him "elsewhere", to some strange other-world within his subconscious that is governed by dark characters.

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List