Nadia McGrath's artwork explores alcoholism and its impact on families, represented through paintings, sculptures, and short videos. Through her work, Nadia wants viewers to reflect on the notion that “alcoholism is a family disease” -- affecting not only the alcoholic, but everyone around them as well.
Nadia McGrath's artwork explores alcoholism and its impact on families, represented through paintings, sculptures, and short videos. Through her work, Nadia wants viewers to reflect on the notion that “alcoholism is a family disease” -- affecting not only the alcoholic, but everyone around them as well.Nadia McGrath's paintings and sculptures, as well as her short videos, explore the different ways in which alcohol affects the body, from the physical to the psychological. Her installations evoke the intensity and the tension between the alcohol's seduction and its seduction, the way that the unconscious can be experienced as a part of the unconscious. In Untitled (caffeine), 2003, a video installation, the artist's voice is heard telling a story about her own attempt to experience the unconscious through the medium of painting. The video's theme of the unconscious, which is often neglected in discussions of art, is a recurring theme in McGraths work.In a recent exhibition, she presented photographs and objects that take on a narrative quality. In Untitled (Dream), 2004, the artist is shown in a dreamlike environment, her head turned toward the camera. She is sitting at a table with two white-faced dolls, one holding a glass of wine, the other a bottle. She is in a trance, and, as if in a dream, she is talking to herself. The scene is reminiscent of dreams, and the dolls and wine suggest the possibility of escape from the reality of the world. In another image, the artist is seen from the back, with the glass of wine in her hand. The bottle is empty. In a third image, she is shown in a dreamlike environment, but with the bottle in her hand. The other dolls are in a trance. A white-haired woman stands with a black-robed, black-suited woman. The black-suited woman holds a glass of wine in her hand. The white-suited woman looks at the viewer with a look of profound calm. The woman's expression suggests a desire for communion with the other, but she is unable to. She is also trying to drink and has just taken a small sip of wine.
Nadia McGrath's artwork explores alcoholism and its impact on families, represented through paintings, sculptures, and short videos. Through her work, Nadia wants viewers to reflect on the notion that “alcoholism is a family disease” -- affecting not only the alcoholic, but everyone around them as well. For example, the video Blood, which follows the familys participation in a family night out, plays in a darkly comic style, as a family gathers around a party table to discuss the night and its aftermath. The father, dressed in a long black coat, is seen drinking a glass of water while his daughter lies in a bathtub. The father is seen drinking a lot of water and wiping his eyes. The daughter is seen wiping her eyes, but she looks healthy. The father is seen holding a bottle of vodka. The video ends with the men laughing and throwing the bottle into the sink.The exhibition also included photographs of Nadia's sculptures, which are made of aluminum and plastic. Her earlier work consisted of plastic objects that were attached to the wall, sometimes with straps, sometimes without, so that the viewer was encouraged to choose and dismantle the sculpture in order to see the internal structure of the object. In the current show, however, McGrath has replaced the objects with aluminum, and the viewer is asked to look at the aluminum sculptures through the glassy surface of the aluminum, which is transparent and reflects light. The aluminum sculptures are all the same size, and all are placed in a relatively narrow rectangle that encloses the sculpture. They are painted with a fluorescent light and the aluminum sculptures are mounted on the wall. The viewer is invited to enter the rectangle and look through the glassy surface.The aluminum sculptures were made in collaboration with a manufacturer in Berlin. The company has a plant in the town of Graz, Austria, and the aluminum pieces are made there. The aluminum pieces are the same dimensions as the aluminum pieces, and the aluminum pieces are also placed on the aluminum pieces. The aluminum pieces are also fixed to the wall, as in the previous show, and also look like paintings. In addition to the glassy surface, the aluminum pieces also have a rougher, more rustic look to them.
Nadia McGrath's artwork explores alcoholism and its impact on families, represented through paintings, sculptures, and short videos. Through her work, Nadia wants viewers to reflect on the notion that “alcoholism is a family disease” -- affecting not only the alcoholic, but everyone around them as well. McGrath's art is marked by an openness to possibility and a rejection of the single-minded conviction that lies at the core of any endeavor to create meaning or value. McGrath's work is marked by a feeling of loss and vulnerability that is at odds with the values of the art world, and which makes her work more than a passive passive passive-aggressiveness.Her recent show included works in various media, including video, sculptures, drawings, and collages, and installation. McGrath's engagement with the body and the body as material is more evident in video than in sculpture, and her video work is more concerned with the fluidity of the body than with the rigid, stolid forms of sculpture. In her video Untitled (From My Body to My Heart), 2003, McGrath explores the relationship between her body and her heart. The piece begins with the artists's description of her heart's rhythm, which is interrupted by an image of the artist's face. A voice-over then asks: How can I tell you how to tell me how to tell? The video continues: Ive never felt so sad before, and I cant begin to describe what it feels like to be sad, but Im not sure what to say. McGrath's voice-over is punctuated by a voice-over of the artist's own, who is asked what she feels like to be sad about, and she responds with an image of her own heart: Its a beautiful heart. The video ends with the artist's description of how she feels when she feels sad, and the voice-over continues: When I look at the paintings I see a sadness I didnt know existed. McGrath's video and video work is marked by a certain loss of intimacy, which is conveyed through the use of a wide range of imagery and styles.
Nadia McGrath's artwork explores alcoholism and its impact on families, represented through paintings, sculptures, and short videos. Through her work, Nadia wants viewers to reflect on the notion that “alcoholism is a family disease” -- affecting not only the alcoholic, but everyone around them as well.She has worked as an artist since the late 1980s, and her work with alcohol is consistently radical. The paintings and sculptures on display here were executed in acrylic on canvas. Some were made from found materials such as newspapers, plastic bags, empty bottles, and shopping bags. Others are made from found objects such as pill bottles, empty wine bottles, and empty cans. McGrath's interest in the visual effects of alcohol is apparent in the way she combines this seductive medium with other materials, such as paper, and fabric. She applies her acrylics in layers, then rubs them onto the canvas. The result is a staccato of splotches of color. She also makes objects out of newspaper, such as a small wooden box filled with newspapers and a small, red plastic bag filled with newspaper. This container-like object, which, in the context of the exhibition, recalls a cereal box, is used to contain newspapers and their value, which, in turn, becomes a container for newspapers. McGrath's works also have a playful, almost playful aspect. The paper, for example, is placed in a toylike box and has been cut into pieces that are individually wrapped in newspaper, so that the pieces resemble the papers' different shapes. The result is an amusing, absurd work.McGrath's drawings show the effects of alcohol on the body, and her sculptures suggest that the body itself is an alcoholic landscape. The glass-fronted case of a plastic bottle is filled with newspaper and filled with newspaper, and the case is also filled with newspapers. This is the case with the paper bag, which is presented in the sculpture, which is held in the sculpture by a plastic bottle, which is placed on top of the bottle. The bottle is displayed on the side of the case, and the newspaper is suspended in the bottle by a metal chain. The sculpture is placed on the floor.
Nadia McGrath's artwork explores alcoholism and its impact on families, represented through paintings, sculptures, and short videos. Through her work, Nadia wants viewers to reflect on the notion that “alcoholism is a family disease” -- affecting not only the alcoholic, but everyone around them as well.In a series of sculptures, Nadia McGrath combines human and animal figures, sometimes combining them in a single work. In one sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a bird perched on her head, a bird that looks like a mourning dove. She wears a long, flowing dress and a pair of glasses that have been painted black. The dress is draped over the woman's shoulders and the glasses are held in place by metal wire. The woman's hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be searching for something. In another sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a black dress, a bird that looks like a mourning dove. Her hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be looking at something. In another sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a black dress, a bird that looks like a mourning dove. She wears a long, flowing dress and a pair of glasses that have been painted black. The dress is draped over the woman's shoulders and the glasses are held in place by metal wire. The woman's hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be looking at something. In a third sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a black dress, a bird that looks like a mourning dove. Her hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be looking at something.In another sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a bird that looks like a mourning dove. Her hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be looking at something. In a third sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a bird that looks like a mourning dove. Her hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be looking at something. In a fourth sculpture, a young woman lies on her back with a bird that looks like a mourning dove. Her hands are in her pockets, but she seems to be looking at something. She has a cigarette, but she seems to be smoking.
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