NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Jonathan Ferrara Gallery announces Game Room, an exhibition of new sculpture by artist Michael Combs. The exhibition will run through May 19th, 2012.
Michael Combs uses familiar elements of Americana and materials reminiscent of masculine icons such as Hemingway and Roosevelt. His football helmets, punching bags, and sports equipment illustrate another boyhood obsession, and are symbolic of how the west was won within the context of an infamous sports rivalry. The equipment acts as another example of the societal need for acceptance and a reminder that sometimes it's best to be all that you can't be.
Growing up on Long Island's East End, Combs was raised by generations of hunters, fishermen, boat builders, and decoy makers. Instead of becoming an avid hunter himself, the upbringing ignited his passion for nature and position against the vanity of the sport.
Man's relationship to nature isn't always pretty. I often dissect the absurdity of what we do, for example the lengths in which we go for power, security, or sex. I find it extremely similar to what happens in the animal kingdom. I am interested in what makes us tick, the ways in which our contradictions pose a threat to ourselves and our world, and how dangerous we are to our environment. Out of my knowledge and attraction for nature and hunting, I can unearth the issues and create personal visions that explore them in their lurid and sometimes ludicrous complexity.
Michael Combs lives and works in New York. He has a MFA from the School of Visual Arts. He has shown at galleries and museums throughout the US. In 2005, Combs had a solo exhibition at the Parrish Art Museum entitled The Trophy Room where he transformed gallery space into an immersive display of sculpted hunting conquests. He is scheduled for an upcoming solo exhibition at 21c Museum later this year.
His work has been featured in Sculpture magazine, ARTNews, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Hamptons Magazine, Newsday, Art in America, and ArtForum.
His selected collections include Parrish Art Museum, 21C Museum, Beth Rudin Dewoody, Klaus Kertess, and Marianne
Boesky.
