The Performance Series #1 is visually interesting. At first glance it looks like a 1920’s era photograph that didn’t develop quite right. Upon closer inspection, there is a visual stagger of the photograph in general that affects the figure in an interesting and dynamic way. The offset of what looks like four different layers creates this contortionist-esque women with too many eyes. It’s an uncanny valley moment. Perhaps the unsettling aspect is meant to tie into the equally as unsettling and more upsetting history of the country? Media paints the United States as the best place when in reality this country has committed atrocities as much as anyone else between the treatment of Native Americans, the hand that was had in the Atlantic slave trade, the sheer amount of rampant racism, concentration camps for the Japanese during World War II, the camps that ICE are putting people in – the list goes on. The burial of such information and romanticizing of the United States past decades is confronting the viewer via the visual staggering and the historical source image in this print.

Alternatively, maybe this is discussing people’s perceptions of the self and others. Conditions such as body dysmorphia are prevalent today with the heavy prevalence of photoshopping and airbrushing models, diet culture, and the perpetual presence of social media. We see those held up as what the ideal is and compare ourselves to them and see ourselves as a caricature when we look in the mirror. Coming back to the effects of the staggering on the figure, this idea of caricature and not lining up with the ideal is reflected vis the three eyes and multiple limbs. The use of the pink in the printing could be focusing this point towards folks that identify more femininely as that is the societally assigned color for them.

Review by Ez Perry

 

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

As a young kid, I grew up in skateboarding. I can remember the first board my father brought home with him after work one day. It had a 1995 Stacy Peralta “P” logo that sat directly in the middle of an off red frame. This was my first introduction to what I understood as design orientation and how it had the power to emphasize a feeling or statement. From there, I quickly found myself staring for hours at different skateboard magazines finding influence from artists like Neck Face and Barry McGee. It was these initial years of being exposed to a subcultural genre of art that shaped my work moving forward.

My practice aims to incorporate all aspects of new and old influences that continue to inspire me. Playing on the role of characterization in illustration has allowed me to explore diverse avenues of myself, while incorporating the dynamics of my own life into each character’s personality. Using the circus as a frame of reference, I will often research the history of various circus acts and the performers they utilized, while studying photographs, carnival signs and vagabond lifestyles to shape their ethos. I then utlize and transfer the nature of these subjects including their clothing, body shape and personality, developing them into my own characters. Often times, the infamous clown can be found in my work playing with objects that appear magical or apart from reality. This correlation to what embodies the carnival life is presented in themes of dark humor and anxious whimsicality. I relate to these subjective characterizations as I reflect on the current state of society and its horrific ability to cast groups to the side. I am fascinated with the lives of the unordinary and therefore play upon these subcultural lifestyles.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Logan Guarglia is a North Carolina native born in Raleigh and raised in Greensboro. His work aims to connect the lines between graphic ephemera, illustration and street art through the medium of Printmaking. With an interest in subcultural groups, he currently focuses on the
historical aspects of carnival life and its ability to portray themes of magic, illusion and whimsical entertainment.