Super Mario's Art: Fine Art in the Fast lane: Ecstasy of Mary Shelley - Group Show curated by Virginia Broersma, Kio Griffith and Nick Brown at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), Hollywood, California

When one thinks of a state of ecstasy, one thinks of a state of physical sensation often associated with sexual and physical activity. The state of pleasure where senses are heightened in elation and bodily experiences. In a religious context, the pleasurable sensation is associated with an experience with God, or an angelic presence where the spiritual and the physical become one in itself. In "Ecstasy of Mary Shelley," the concept of ecstasy and the author Mary Shelley are associated and combined with each other. Mary Shelley is best known for her classic novel, "Frankenstein," where the protagonist Victor Frankenstein is both pursued and haunted by a "monster," the result of creating life out of death and thus playing the role of God in pursuit of science. Thus the ecstasy of Mary Shelley is that of the pain in creating something that is both haunting and pursues the protagonist. The ecstasy can be both pleasure and pain by that which is created. Featuring the work of Cassils, Nathan Danilowicz, Valerie Hegarty, Naotaka Hiro, Annie Lapin, Candice Lin, and Gala Porras-Kim, the curators Virginia Broersma, Kio Griffith and Nick Brown create a dark vision of science and creation as metaphor for something that is both pursued and haunts the viewer and manifests itself in various ways in art.

There is a sense of a dark sublime where artists such as Nathan Danilowicz and Naotaka Hiro contemplate the ruins of civilized society in the form of the architectural, or the decay of history as portrayed in works by Cassils, Gala Porras-Kim and Valerie Hagerty. The works of Annie Lapin, Candice Lin, and the sculptural objects of Hiro explore the breakdown of humanity in both physical, biological, and the distinctive differences between humans and animals. It was once said that after pride, follows Nemesis. The works in "Ecstasy of Mary Shelley" are an illustration of man's pursuit of God's power to create, what follows is destruction and ruin. The curators show an aftermath of something pursued by humanity. This is an excellent exhibition. Go see.

On view until February 12, 2017

LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions)

6522 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
t: 323.957.1777
f: 323.957.9025

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Wednesday – Sunday, noon – 6pm
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 10:30am – 6:30pm

Candice Lin

Birth of a Nation (detail)

watercolor and ink on paper

44 x 52 inches

2008

Annie Lapin
let’s talk relations
Acrylic, Cel-Vinyl, charcoal, chalk and urethane on linen
82 x 50 inches
2016

Annie Lapin
a character with a name that already exists
Acrylic, Cel-Vinyl, charcoal, chalk and urethane on linen
82 x 50 inches
2016

Candice Lin
The Worm Husband (Our Father)
Silkworms, Tank, glazed porcelain,
plaster and heating mechanism, misc. plant material
8.5 x 9.5 x 10 inches
2016