Ashes Of Our Zeitgeist
Inga Bard
December 14, 2018 - January 11, 2019
On December 14th, The Laundry proudly presents, Ashes of Our Zeitgeist, a selection of works from four recent interconnected collections by Inga Bard. The exhibition opens on December 14th and continues through January 11, with an artist’s reception on Tuesday, December 18th, from 6:00-9:00 PM. A Conversation with Inga Bard will commence at 7:00 PM on December 18th.
ASHES OF OUR ZEITGEIST is a cross section of oil paintings and photographs by Inga Bard. Through her work, Bard strives to examine the grand narratives interlaced through our current social fabric. As a means to render each new contradiction, Bard’s depictions chronicle the world in which she finds herself. Over the years of studying the relationship between public imagination and propaganda Inga Bard has learned to synthesize reality from endless signals received through the noise. Protest, fake news, collective environmental anxiety, civilian gun violence, economic degradation, infrastructural catastrophes, and systemic war fueled by nationalism are some of the topics touched upon in this exhibition. No matter what convoluted, misunderstood or misrepresented environment the subjects of these paintings find themselves in, Bard always paints their flesh to highlight and insist on their shared humanity.
The opening reception will feature A Conversation with Inga Bard, an artist talk discussing the source of inspiration, the underlying narratives and our place within it.
About the artist Inga Bard
Inga Bard was born on the eve of the dissolution of the USSR in Odessa, Ukraine and became a naturalized US citizen after emigrating with her family as political refugees at the age of ten. Everyone always knew that Inga would be an artist and so she went off to study art in Miami soon after quitting high school. Since then, she has studied, taught and made art in Florence, Italy, London, Uk and now San Francisco. In her studio practice, Inga Bard is captivated by the relationships between public imagination and propaganda and as a cultural producer, she sees it as her responsibility to constantly examine and redefine the status quo. She often inverts imagery into its photographic negative as a way of pointing to the skewed, misinformed and spectacularized hyper-reality we live in. Other times, she uses paint to reflect darker or more ironic nuances of everyday life. Yet no matter what environment the subjects of these paintings find themselves in, Bard always aimt to paint their flesh in a way that highlights and insists on their shared humanity.
Inga Bard’s work has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Soho Fluorescent Festival in London, the HK Art Fair with Mendes Wood Gallery in Hong Kong, the Museo Villa Bardini in Florence, and many more. Bard has created several public art projects including murals for the City of Flint, Michigan, as well as the Autocom Nissan Dealership in Oakland, Interchange Counseling Institute in San Francisco, and the city of Dunedin, Florida. Recently Bard founded Art for Civil Discourse (ACD), a project that brings communities together to spark conversation. By inviting citizens to collaborate in the creation of public artwork, ACD helps engage and inspire neighborhoods to dissect reality and dream together.
