March 5 - 29, 2015

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 5, 6 - 9pm

Brooklyn, NY - February 2015

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to present Floaters, a solo exhibition of new work by Alisa Henriquez. The exhibition will be on view from March 5 - 29, with an opening reception on Thursday, March 5, from 6 - 9pm.

In her new body of constructed assemblages, Henriquez combines material gathered from popular and glamour culture, with digitized and magnified images from contemporary media and art history. In stacking and
re-assembling these materials and images in figurative and totemic-like structures, she explores the multiple histories, various beliefs, and at times contradictory notions of self that emerge. Floaters, the title of the exhibition, references not only bits of optical debris but also the culturally conditioned
conceptual spots that linger and inform our vision of ourselves as human, gendered, and embodied entities.

While the stacked oval forms that comprise these works conjure up Venus of Willendorf and oen contain images of Adam and Eve, recurring motifs such as heavily mascaraed eyes, glossed lips, hair, and skin reference female fertility, sexuality, and desire through a dierent lens. At the same time,
references to fetish and voyeur exist through the inclusion of supercharged materials like glitter, fur, resin and the frequent image of the gazing human eye. The encoded meanings and myths oer Henriquez much artistic fodder for examining the abstract dialogue, emblematic importance, optically
based metaphors, and at times, fractured nature these material and media born identities reveal when positioned in the same space.

The cumulative eect is a series of compelling works that challenge overly simplistic identity constructions and create an experience worth a long look.

Alisa Henriquez was born in Kingston, Jamaica and first studied art at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada.

She received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, studied painting at Yale Summer School of Music and Art and earned her MFA from Indiana University, Bloomington. Currently, an Associate Professor at Michigan State University, her work has been shown in nationally and internationally recognized venues.

A catalog with essay by Jennifer Coates, a New York City based painter, writer and musician is available.

For more information on the artist please visit www.alisahenriquez.com.