BONNIE MAYGARDEN

JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is proud to announce Saturation, an exhibition of new paintings and installations by BONNIE MAYGARDEN, on view in the centre gallery from 1 April to 28 May with First Saturday Gallery Openings on 2 April from 6-9pm and on 7 May from 6-10pm in conjunction with JAMMIN’ ON JULIA presented by the Arts District of New Orleans, sponsored by the Downtown Development District. For her second solo exhibition at the gallery, Maygarden has created eight new paintings in her characteristic style of what she refers to as her “canvas manipulation” technique. The finished work is stretched completely flat yet simulates three-dimensional quality. Additionally, the artist has also created installations composed of neon and adhesive fabric. The viewer is beckoned to inspect these seemingly photographic works from side to side and question the unknown source of the painted-image.

Maygarden discusses her most recent paintings . . .

We love to be deceived by technology. We celebrate the newest ways technology mirrors ‘real life’ with giant screens with crystal clear clarity, lifelike rendering in animation, holograms, and virtual reality. I am interested in a parallel fascination throughout the history of painting. As the practice of painting evolved we fought to create images that felt ‘real’, and later through Op Art images that used illusion to deceive the eye. Through my work I use many constructs of traditional painting, but work to reference our relationship to technology. I play with moments of deception though tromp l’oeil, reflection, and optical color mixing. This allows me to question what our expectations of contemporary images are in a post-digital world. 

BONNIE MAYGARDEN is a multimedia artist who received her MFA in Studio Arts from Tulane University. The destruction of Hurricane Katrina caused her to take leave of New Orleans to further pursue art. She attended Pratt Institute in New York, where she received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts. Her work has been featured in exhibitions both nationally and internationally in various museums, galleries and alternative venues including: Université Lumière Lyons (Lyons, France), Pratt Institute, Icosahedron Gallery (New York City), East Hall Gallery (Brooklyn), SALTWORKS (Atlanta), The Front (New Orleans) and New Orleans Creative Center for the Arts where she attended high school.

Several notable publications have featured Maygarden’s work; including, Gambit Weekly, NOLA DEFENDER, and INVADE NOLA. Curator and art critic Tori Bush featured Maygarden’s Master’s thesis exhibition “Hyper Real” in her May 2013 Artist Spotlight.