Oct 1 - 31, 2024

FIRST WEDNESDAY OPENING: Oct 2 FROM 6 - 9PM

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: SUNDAY, Oct 20, AT 4PM.

NORMAL GALLERY HOURS: TUE - SUN, 12PM - 6PM

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Jeremiah Ariaz received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His photographs examine the constructs of American identity within personal, community, and political contexts.

Battleground Blues features dystopian scenes from the American landscape. The work was initiated in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election and will continue through the 2024 election. Made across the nation, in public and private spaces, as well as at sites of protest and civic unrest, the images evoke the anxiety felt by many at this critical juncture in our nation’s history.
As the 2020 election approached, I was spurred on by my own anxiety and feelings of helplessness. I searched for a way to visualize our fractured democracy in a time of heightened division, making images to reveal tension and transition, mourning and protest. Seeking to visualize the democratic process, I visited election campaign and newspaper offices. I walked through cities whose architectural facades were transformed in response to protests in the streets. A steel wall was being erected at the southern border. The economic effects of the global pandemic have shuttered businesses on every Main Street. Landscapes were devasted by extreme weather events, intensified by climate change – a record fire season burned out west while an unprecedented number of hurricanes brought destruction to the Gulf Coast. In the years since, there has been a rise in political violence, from the January 6th attack on the nation’s Capital to the recent attempt to assassinate the former President.
The resulting photographs are a visual testament to the intensity and uncertainty of this era. I hope for the images to reveal the interconnectedness of events and experiences, part of the visual record of this time. While making this work, I kept returning to Roland Barthes’ statement that “photographs are prophecies in reverse”.

This exhibition is on view alongside works from three of our other artist members: Justin Tyler Bryant, Lauren Cardenás, and Kristine Thompson. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from Oct 1 - 31, 2024.