Marshmallow: Desensitization and Representation
Solo exhibition by Phaedra Robinson
photography, drawing, sculpture, installation

also:
mini-exhibit: Nina Bru (Barcelona, Spain)
flatscreen dvd: David Humphries

Opening Friday March 3 from 6pm-10pm
March 3 - March 25

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -Mohandas Gandhi

It is our desensitization to what we consume and the effects this has on the world at large that is represented here through the metaphor of the marshmallow.

The marshmallow is a seemingly innocuous confection made from sugar, chemicals and cow/horse by-product often 'toasted' and eaten ritualistically with chocolate and graham crackers around a campfire. This 'S'more', is a symbol of cherished American values. What is consumed and the effects of its consumption often go unquestioned, or deliberately ignored in America. This says a lot about American values, and reflects upon our public education system, our sociological training and our passive nature as a conditioned people. We have become desensitized to the blunt reality of the world around us. We accept what and how things are presented to us and as a nation we embrace our own ignorance by accepting one representation, one meaning and one value for a culture, race, people, gender, age group, paradigm; for everything quantified, everything defined.

We utilize and study animals to better understand, manipulate and define our existence as humans. In this exhibition I present work through which I have tried to better understand existence and human role through the examination of representation and the human-animal relationship. This is a re-sensitization.

So I ask you, is an "impala" a car or an African antelope?
-Phaedra Robinson 2006

Phaedra Robinson is a Detroit-based visual artist, arts educator and writer, curator and arts activist who works in a variety of mediums - including video, installation, sculpture and paint. Her work has been shown in numerous galleries in Detroit as well as from coast to coast and in Canada. She is currently the curator for Juris Galleries at the historic Hecker-Smiley Mansion . She maintains a strong commitment to the role of the arts in urban redevelopment and has thusly founded The Center for Creative Xchange, a Detroit-based arts organization dedicated to creative collaboration. She has been teaching at the College for Creative Studies for over five years and serves on the executive board for Art On the Move, co-chairs the Artworks for Life committee of the Midwest Aids Prevention Project and is a committee member for the Forum for Contemporary Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Along with Phaedra's work, Polvo welcomes artist Nina F. Bru for a mini-exhibit. Nina F. Bru is an artist from Barcelona, Spain with a degree of fine arts from l'Escola Massana of Barcelona. She has been living in Holland for many years and recently moved back to Barcelona to finish her studies. Nina exhibits at various cultural centers as well as with Zumzum Gallery in BCN.

Also this month's flatscreen DVD is from David Humphries, one of the Australia's most celebrated public artists. In a career spanning over 30 year, Humphries has re-imagined the way Australian cities can present and promote their public spaces. The director of Public Art Squad, he has proved that art can add cultural and capital value to a city. A regular speaker at conferences and symposiums, Humphries is at the heart of the movement towards ‘Creative Cities”.

polvo
1458 W. 18th St. 1R
Chicago, IL 60608
(773) 344-1940
HOURS: Saturdays from Noon-5pm or by appointment
http://www.polvo.org/