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Featuring

Bianca Beck • Joy Curtis • Jennie Jieun Lee • Brie Ruais • Aparna Sarkar

An exploration of the body as a resource.

The works in this exhibition are messy. The perfection of formalism is nowhere in sight. From Bianca Beck's rough hewn papier-mâché surfaces, to Joy Curtis's tattered fabrics, to Jennie Jiuen Lee's pours of glaze across her ceramic busts, to Brie Ruais's expansive stretched clay, and to Aparna Sarkar's scratched canvas, the markers of expression are ever present. The works are steeped in each artist's personal history as themes of gender, identity, and sexuality serve as guideposts from which they excavate. The body is messy as well; to inhabit one is a complex proposition made even more complex by the systems that try to define it. As the title implies, each artist has broken open their own systems of being. They are exploring the uncharted possibility of what it means to possess a physical form solely unto themselves.

The Museum of New Art (MONA) will bring the latest trends in contemporary art to the New Hampshire Seacoast region, provide educational opportunities for all age and ability levels, and serve as a cultural gathering center for the city of Portsmouth.

German-born Brooklyn-based artist Markus Linnenbrink will unveil a comprehensive overview orchestrating the interconnectedness of his different bodies of work.

Throughout the three main gallery spaces, the visitor finds paintings, sculpture, a portable installation, and a site-specific painted room where every surface—walls, ceiling, floor—is a feast of color, pattern, and gesture.

The works vary in form, yet they all are linked by his consistent experimental use of vibrant color, and a rich process that blends what the artist calls “drips, drills, and reverses” with spontaneous attention to the behavior of his materials. The overall impression of this show is one of joy, energy, and vivid life.