October 17–November 23, 2013
The Philip J. Steele Gallery
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design
1600 Pierce Street
Denver, Colorado
Hours: Monday–Saturday 11am–4pm
Admission to the gallery is free and open to the public.
Curated by Cortney Lane Stell
Comprising of newly commissioned light and video work as well as paintings and a soundscape, Desirée Holman’s exhibition introduces her ongoing project Sophont, initiated in 2012 and inspired by research into metaphysical ideologies and culturally created perceptions of extraterrestrials.
Both critical of and intrigued by the worldview captured in these philosophies, Holman knowingly engages both crewed and beautiful stereotypes of iconography and aesthetics associated with spiritual pseudo-sciences. This exploration takes the form through multiple mediums including prismatic paintings of auras, home-crafted mindreading helmets and otherworldly soundscapes.
The Sophont series moves swiftly between figure and abstraction, terrestrial and extraterrestrial, new and old ages, and speaks largely to our culturally developed conceptions of “otherness.”
About the artist
Desirée Holman is an artist based in Oakland, California. Her multi-sensory work positions theatrical tools, like costumes or props, in settings that illuminate ideas of identity, knowledge, and the complexities of the human psyche. Holman utilizes references to popular culture, as well as subcultures, in order to explore concepts around personal life experiences and how we interpret visual culture. In this space the artist’s work reveals a complex dialogue about truth and the experience of the ‘real’ world.
Holman holds a Master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Earning critical acclaim for her work, Holman was awarded a San Francisco Modern Museum of Art SECA award in 2008 and in 2007, the Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue award. Solo exhibitions of her work include the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the Berkeley Art Museum’s MATRIX program. International exhibitions of Holman’s work have taken place at the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art, Hessel Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Milan’s BnD, and Toronto’s YYZ. Reviews of Holman’s work have appeared in numerous publications, including Artforum, The Los Angeles Times, NY Arts, and Artweek. The artist is represented by Jessica Silverman Gallery in San Francisco.
The Philip J. Steele Gallery
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design
1600 Pierce Street
Denver, Colorado
Hours: Monday–Saturday 11am–4pm
Admission to the gallery is free and open to the public.
The Philip J. Steele Gallery is a multidisciplinary exhibition space that exhibits national and international contemporary art.
The Gallery is part of Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, a private art and design college offering online and on-ground undergraduate and graduate degrees.