CHICAGO.-Unsettling moments of frustration, awkwardness, and vulnerability are captured in Craig Doty’s vivid photographs. The March UBS 12 x 12 New Artists/New Work exhibition presents seven large-scale, new works featuring a bloody car accident victim, a white-eyed screaming man, and a teen having an emotional breakdown. The exhibit opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, at First Fridays on March 8 and runs through March 30, 2008.

Doty’s highly orchestrated, yet realistic tableaus are filled with stark color contrasts, visual disruptions in time, and stolen emotional experiences. Untitled, 2006 depicts a seemingly beaten-up man with a bloody nose, pitting red color against blue, and a violent experience against a calm interior. The photographs intrude on their characters’ emotional and bizarre private moments in a surreal way. Doty’s dissimilar images come together to reveal distortions of the human form and create gripping, independent realities within fictional montages.

Doty received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2003 and his MFA in Photography from the Yale University School of Art in 2006. He leads a tour of his work on March 18, 2008, at 6:30 pm.

March at the MCA begins with a First Friday’s “Traveling Star” theme. Guests may enjoy a sneak peek of “Bubble-rama,” a comedic short filmed in Chicago. DJ Warp aka Brian Keigher spins music and the bar serves Journey-tinis and Cruising-Cosmos. First Fridays tickets include museum admission, live entertainment, and complimentary Puck’s hors d’oeuvres and are available the evening of the event for $15 ($7 for MCA members). Advance tickets are $10 ($7 MCA members) available through the MCA Box Office at 312.397.4010 or www.mcachicago.org. Doors are open from 6-10 pm. A cash bar is open until 9:30 pm. Guests must be 21 or older to enter.