Stolen Time curated by Aileen Tat and Rachel Pascua Artwork by: Conrad Carlson, Paul Davies, Sara Dierck, Gianluca Fratantonio, Tamar Hirschl, Scott Listfield, Anthony Murray, Ben Pranger, Dana Sperry, Ryan Sullivan, Jeff Thompson, Arno Tijnagel, Heeseop Yoon & Lance Wakeling

America lives in a high-speed culture, where every day is a continual bombardment of the senses. Our country leads the race to fulfill the contemporary dream of fitting ever-more “quality time” into its citizens’ daily routine, by compartmentalizing and accelerating almost every facet of our existence. Witness the rise in popularity of minute meals, instant messaging, wireless communication, nonstop flights, drive-thrus, speed dating, and drugs, such as Ritalin, amphetamines, and Xanax, which are used to help deal with it all.

Is living via these chemical and technological conveniences pushing us towards a harmony of instant gratification, increased leisure, and better understanding, or does it harbor a more sinister future in which we’re doing more to keep up, and thus perpetually losing the time we’re supposed to have saved? What is the role of the contemporary artist in keeping or regulating the pace of modern life? Stolen Time presents fourteen artists whose work reacts to a fast world of constant stimuli or pauses to regroup the eye of the storm.

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