Featuring: Reed Anderson David Aron Hisham Akira Bharoocha Bruce Bickford Mark Borthwick Mat Brinkman Calef Brown Deanne Cheuk Jeff Coad Richard Crawford EYE Paul Goode Yusuke Gunji Daniel Higgs Ray Johnson Kim Krans Andrew Kuo Matt Leines Richard McGuire Nancy Mladenoff Olivia Shao Eugene Von Bruenchenhein Eric White Unica Zurn

Curated by Rich Jacobs and Abigail Scholar.

Carry On examines what might be termed a gentle psychedelia, with an emphasis on contemporary visual practices that confront a collective notion of social and environmental dystopia by pursuing individual utopic desires. The exhibition presents works by artists spanning a range of over 45 years of art making who employ a variety of media.

The title of this exhibition alludes to the influence that the psychedelic aesthetic continues to maintain. Moving beyond the more common nostalgic reception of this period, the artists in Carry On touch on a particular side of the psychedelic that is more subtle and represents a broader definition, which is to make visible that which is manifested from the mind. Many of the works inspire us in this current time of social unrest, hinting that there are alternative possibilities, paths, realms and realities for our consideration.

Also included in the exhibition is Richard Crawford’s underground feature-length film Captain Milkshake, a Vietnam War-era movie that examines the struggles of a generation beset by war and social change. Incorporating dream-like visual effects, the film presents a defining moment when politics, individual consciousness and psychedelic aesthetics were intrinsically bound.

Although the participating artists might not typically be categorized as within the historical parameters or chronology of psychedelia, it is either their often surrealistic visions, sense of hope, or interest in alternatives to traditional ‘high art’ values that integrates their work with such aesthetic practices and ways of perceiving and functioning within the world. Many are well-established in other artistic practices and professions such as graphic design, illustration, comics, fashion photography, film and music.

Often operating outside the margins of the mainstream, the artists in Carry On present highly personal visions for a complex combination of social and visual transcendence promising a new sense of cultural direction.