Magnan Emrich Contemporary is pleased to present the first solo show in New York for Nicolás Consuegra and Monica Paez.

Nicolás Consuegra and Monica Paez examine the constant need for space in a city like New York. They create conceptual, site-specific projects that incorporate photography, video, installation and offset printing, using space and place to explore the relationships between daily routine and global discourse.

Void combines a wall installation with a series of photographs intending to create an environment focused on the massive volume and size of self-storage buildings. Untitled (mirror bricks) consists of precision-cut mirrors organized like an ordinary masonry wall. The reflection of the gallery in front of them creates the illusion of a three-dimensional space expanding on itself. Although they are posing as structural elements, the mirror-bricks are actually reproducing space as opposed to defining it.

The untitled, large-scale photographs surrounding the wall installation are portraits of colossal buildings familiar to the New York landscape: bricked-up and brightly painted facades of self-storage buildings. These ugly structures stand like impenetrable fortresses of American materialism and consumerism. They symbolize our hidden, unwanted belongings that have been shoved out of sight and out of mind. The buildings themselves are awkward landmarks that devour massive amounts of precious urban real estate.

The use of distinct, crisp photography and stark silhouettes is essential to the work. Untitled (mirror bricks) and the untitled photographs reflect the anxiety of cramped New York living. Both Consuegra and Paez draw on their experience in graphic design and digital arts to create poignant images, both of the buildings themselves and the void of volume that would exist if they were to disappear.

Nicolás Consuegra and Monica Paez are from Bogotá, Colombia. Each received their MFA degree from the Pratt Institute in 2007 and 2006 respectively. Most recently, they exhibited with M4 Design Project as part of Design Miami 07. They have participated in numerous internationally shows including Bogotá, Colombia and Puerto Rico. Consuegra and Paez currently live and work in New York City.