New Mourning is a group exhibition of emerging contemporary artists that examine the effect of being raised within television, advertising, and other forms of media culture. The artists included in New Mourning were born in the 1970’s and 80’s – a generation whose adolescent years witnessed a proliferation of media targeted directly at youth. It is recognized that the immersion of media has precipitated feelings of unattainable idealism, boredom, and apathy. Such feelings are digested and parsed out through the work of New Mourning artists Melanie Schiff, Jack Strange, Jason Lazarus, SLEEP, Nataliya Slinko, Chris Collins, Bret Schneider, Jon Rafman, Haseeb Ahmed and others. The exhibition will focus on the use of fantasy, angst, farce, and ethereal imagery – all devices that point to a collective desire to sublimate the malaise that has resulted from being raised within an environment suffused with media. Jason Simon’s video, Production Notes, 1987, serves as an elucidative reference for the idealist construction of advertising that has affected the generation being examined. Much of the work included in New Mourning hints at the revival of movements such as Surrealism, psychedelica, and grunge, but is paired with an earnest self awareness that transcends the danger of ironic embrace.

Curated by Karen Archey, New Mourning opens November 23, 6 – 9PM, at the temporary space MWNM, located at 17 Orchard Street in the Lower East Side. It is generously supported by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Cardinal Investments. New Mourning follows Meet Waradise, an ongoing series of events named after MWNM’s neighboring bar, Sweet Paradise. Meet Waradise seeks to establish connections within the ever-growing pool of young artists inhabiting New York City. MWNM is: Alice Wells, director; Karen Archey, curatorial; and Caroline Askew, designer. The exhibition will run through December 20th.