Nov 1st - Nov 30th

Book of Monsters

Rowan Buffington & Matt Greenwell

David and Marian Fairchild’s Book of Monsters (1914), from which Buffington and Greenwell borrow the title of this exhibition, comprises a series of protoscientific photographs of insects. The extreme close-up images serve a dual purpose: as documentary evidence suitable for scientific analysis, and as a protracted treatise on the fundamental alterity of insects. The Fairchilds explain: “…the flies which leave a colony of germs at every footstep will not much longer be tolerated, indeed, every creature that bites and sucks our food and dishes has been placed under suspicion.” The photographic analysis of these insects is an extension of a colonial mindset that seeks to contain, control, and dominate that which refuses to be assimilated.

The exhibition Book of Monsters examines these images against the backdrop of avant-garde artistic production. Buffington and Greenwell challenge conventional notions of normalcy that have been and remain central to nationalist and totalitarian logics. Collage and printmaking were instrumental to shaping the political consciousness of the early 20th century, serving as a vital form of resistance against fascistic imperatives. Fascism is once again on the rise, and we find ourselves in a directly analogous position to artists of the historic avant-garde.

Buffington and Greenwell are interested in the image’s potential to undermine itself. By dislodging images from their conventional functions and contexts, Buffington and Greenwell restore their status as multivalent signs that can be guided—in conversation with one another—towards new and unexpected affiliations. Their collage-based installations and performances have been featured in exhibitions at Stove Works in Chattanooga, TN, at Coop Gallery in Nashville, TN, and on the original campus of Black Mountain College in Black Mountain, NC. In each of these exhibitions, they have leveraged the potential of the collaged image to draw out broader social, political, and pedagogical themes.

This exchange show is scheduled in partnership with Stove Works.