Masks in Rave

About

Presented by: Garment District Alliance and Ambrus Gero

Program: The Garment District Space For Public Arts

Location: Kaufman Arcade, 132 W 36th St., New York, NY 10018

Dates: September 21 - November 23, 2022

Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 21, 6-8 pm

Masks in Rave represents a multidimensional world that the paintings exist in. The starting point of Ambrus Gero’s universe is a blurred reality where multiple logics are possible. Viewers follow a fiction-based narrative where inanimated masks and gloves become animated.

Doubled interpretations span across the paintings enhancing this paradox. On one hand, the viewer sees the masked characters as less human, on the other hand the masked character feel more free to be human. Because time is stopped in a painting, those faces are inanimate masks to the viewer.

Gero considers the presentation of extasy on faces as one of the most fascinating subject matters. He wants the viewers to witness a moment when the protagonist of the paintings loose control and a higher level of freedom is experienced. The characters of the paintings are refusing to follow their imposed social and cultural norms. They crawl on each others backs and spin with hula hoops while their faces deform and become unrecognizable.

Gloves are actually masks, because gloves are hiding what animates them. The glove is a symbol of infinite power, like Thanos’ power to use his glove to instantly erase half of the life in the universe. The gloves in Gero’s painting have the same ability to deprive humans of their lives. Within the narrative of the paintings, everybody is part of the communal rave. The individual’s will is a blurred memory from their past. Masks in Rave is a dystopian and imperfect world ruled by a super-power.

For inquiries and list of works contact Ambrus Gero agero@pratt.edu.