Featuring: william cordova jeremy earhart craig fisher elizabeth huey ryan humphrey emily keegin simon keenleyside joyce korotkin evan lintermans bill lohre rob nadeau mamiko otsubo edward del rosario dan rushton samantha simpson frances trombly

Curated by Daria Brit Shapiro and Tairone Bastien.

Featuring the work of 16 artists, I woke up in a strange place… turns the normal world inside out, unearthing the bizarre terrain that underlies the conscious, thinking world. The viewer is dislocated, displaced in dark, swarthy landscapes where nothing is what it seems. Everyday objects and situations are rebuilt; faux-existences are constructed.

William Cordova’s drawings portray abandoned urban landscapes with destroyed cars, speakers and airplane fuselages balancing atop one another, defying logic and gravity. Depicting the suburban, Emily Keegin’s mysterious photographs are lit entirely by artificial light, such as streetlamps, car interior lights and snowy television static. Without interfering with lighting or adding props, Keegin captures “natural” moments of artificiality.

Elizabeth Huey’s paintings incorporate institutional buildings, angels of mercy and guileless girls, commingling in a pseudo-historical narrative, while Bill Lohre’s meticulous assemblages are invented historical sites, equal parts painting and sculpture. A guillotine constructed from tiny pieces of wood and a razor blade stands in an empty square, surrounded by Tudor houses. The air is quiet: heads are going to roll…

In a play with materials, Jeremy Earhart’s state-shaped clocks are constructed entirely from Styrofoam to resemble wood, conjuring kitschy, roadside motels and dive bars with toothless winos chain-smoking Old Golds with sinister smiles. In an opposite gesture, Frances Trombly’s hand-sewn “Congratulations” banner replaces the world of throw-away party favors with labor-intensive work.

In a departure from his luminous Mountain series, Evan Lintermans’ paintings depict desolate stairwells and creepy outdoor scenes reeking of mystery, while there are magical forces at work within Simon Keenleyside’s surreal landscapes. The forest floor is dotted with candy-colored rocks, trees emerge with purple stripes, casting shadows within fuchsia sunsets. Also working within a strange surreality, Joyce Korotkin’s stunning crimson diptych transforms nature into a pixelated scene of red leaves and branches, within which scary faces and patterns appear.

Craig Fisher’s Puke illustrates the impossibility of being human, where every aspect of our existence is touched by artifice and bling. The gutteral is made glittery as we notice the vomit is sewn from pink sequins, pearls and amber.

Dan Rushton’s large-scale painting of a covered motorcycle exposes the incomprehensible unconscious. The form floats in an airy pink field, into which small signs of life appear; flowers grow from nowhere and snails purposefully navigate the rocky terrain of the abstract.

Subverting the idea of Nature’s divine providence, Samantha Simpson’s very literate animals appear in a purely decorative context, carrying signs and slogans rife with cynicism and uselessness; words of wisdom devoid of wisdom. Inventing social hierarchies, Edward del Rosario’s paintings are populated by odd characters competing in imaginary wars, constructed by impossible moralisms.

Bright and colorful, Rob Nadeau’s poured vinyl rug exists at the interstices of painting and consumer culture; meant to be walked upon and at the same instance, a purely decorative object. Also playing with consumerism, Mamiko Otsubo’s tiny landscape paintings are scenes pulled from famous brand-name labels like Evian and Poland Spring; Otsubo has distilled the recognizable labels down to their essence.

Ryan Humphrey has transformed the project room into a bizarre environment, not unlike the ante-chamber to hell. A chandelier decorated with cast aluminum deer antlers glows eerily while Snow White poses innocently on the wall in a room that could only be described as the devil’s hunting lodge.