Exhibition poster designed by Kalaija Mallery
Faithfully Askew brings the work of Monaco members Kalaija Mallery, Edo Rosenblith, Nick Schleicher, Emily Mueller, and Marina May to The Latent Space in Chicago. Monaco is an artist-run collective and gallery based in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Mimicking the allure of spirituality, this exhibition examines the impulse to seek comfort in making as a means to exorcise thought. As their individual practices trudge towards catharsis, the artists attempt to codify the sanctity of their work.
Mallery imprints intertwined skeletons upon a habotai silk shroud, pairing them with their resting vessels. Rosenblith displays nine phallic candles referencing the enshrined ritualization of circumcision. Schleicher’s paintings encapsulate the glow of orange celestial light in curvilinear paint-pulled columns. Mueller fills a shaped paper triptych with meticulously inscribed colored pencil gestures. May recalls the absurdity of a Sunday naked cake walk through text adhered to the surface of a life-sized mirrored game board.
The visually diverse work is unified in Faithfully Askew through the artists’ devotion to process – as their practice transforms into ritual.
The Board upon which I Float, Colored Pencil on Handmade Paper, Text from Clarice Lispector, Catherine Taylor, and Roland Barthes, sizes variable, 2022
Photo by Kalaija Mallery
Work by Edo Rosenblith, Kalaija Mallery, Nick Schleicher, and Emily Mueller
Photo by Kalaija Mallery
Work by Marina May, Edo Rosenblith, Kalaija Mallery, Nick Schleicher, and Emily Mueller
Photo by Kalaija Mallery
Work by Emily Mueller and Edo Rosenblith
Photo by Kalaija Mallery