THE JAVA PROJECTMILES LADINMasqueradeArtist’s Reception: Saturday October 19th, 6-9PMOctober 12th - November 2nd, 2019
Masquerade explores society’s desire to mask itself in a fantasy world of the macabre. More popular than ever is the carnivalesque reverie found in wearing the costumes of zombies, grim reapers, comic book brutes, and other violent personas. Previous to this new body of work, Miles Ladin had photographed other masks, those of privilege, worn by America’s elite. The gallows humor reflected in his pictures of the rich and famous is now brought into play with photography and mixed media work that takes the viewer into the world of comic-con, zombie-walks, and the famed Flemish carnival of painter James Ensor.
For the first time, Ladin displays his photography alongside drawings and other works. This eclectic presentation creates a dialogue between our contemporary moment and the timeless need for humanity to escape from reality into a fantasy world. To create the work, Ladin himself has donned the mask of artistic chameleon, channeling several well-known painters including Ensor, Goya, Neel, and Warhol. While cross-pollinating a new vision in those works, Ladin extends his sardonic critique of our flirtation with escapism, nihilism and death.
Miles Ladin has previously exhibited his work at The Photographer’s Gallery in London, Exit Art in New York City, The Center for Photography in Woodstock, The Fine Art Works Center in Provincetown, and Sàn Art in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2009 his work was featured in a solo exhibition at Miami’s Wolfsonian Museum. His work is included in public collections including The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz; and the Special Collection Libraries of New York’s MoMA and Whitney Museums. His limited-edition artist’s book Supermodels at the End of Time was shown in 2016 at Station Independent Projects on the LES and was written about in international press, including the front page of the New York Times’ web edition