JEN CATRON & PAUL OUTLAW
Behold! I teach you the Overman!
March 25 - May 7, 2016
Postmasters is pleased to present Behold! I teach you the Overman! by Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw.
This will be the artists' first solo exhibition with the gallery.
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw take "the experience economy" to the next level. Going beyond the
aesthetical phenomenology of Kusama's Infinity Room or the basic interaction of the Rain Room,
Catron and Outlaw create and manipulate environments engulfing the viewers in the spectacle along the way.
Drawing on American culture of extreme excess, their projects involve mechanical automations, video,
painting, photography, and performance to create immersive participatory experiences.
Expect a boat ride. Expect the ride to be wild. Expect to be lifted. Expect the unexpected.
Behold! I teach you the Overman!, Catron and Outlaw create new mythologies to investigate eternal
systems of beliefs through a lens of skepticism and humor. The circularity of cultural gluttony, false
prophets and their relation to what the society is convinced of as reality is explored via the elaborate
set pieces, videos, performance and multimedia paintings. The works aim to physically and metaphorically
transport the viewer to higher levels of existence; Catron and Outlaw become the masters of ceremonies,
the enablers, the devil's advocates and the cicerones in a mystery journey as they elevate the audience
into the air and have them float through water while being guided through societal, political, and spiritual uncertainty.
Through the use of the banal, absurd and the extreme, Catron and Outlaw construct unforgettable moments
in which the participant has no choice but to become a player. As the viewers enter the world of the artists,
where concepts of hyper-reality, apprehension and hope battle with Apollonian and Dionysian beliefs,
death and life, exaltation and grotesque, the works sift through contradictory realities of the past, present and future.
Paul Outlaw, born and raised in Fairhope, Alabama, and the Southern-Illinoisan Jen, met at Cranbrook
Academy of Art outside of Detroit and there began collaborating. The now Brooklyn-based duo have been
featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NY Mag, Vogue, Art in America and online publications
such as Paper Mag, Art21, artnet, Blouin Artinfo, Hyperallergic, Art F City, Flavorwire, Gothamist, and Huffington Post.
They also have been featured on Chopped and Eat Street TV of the Food Network.
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Installation View
2016
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Installation View
2016
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Installation View
2016
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Installation View
2016
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Installation View
2016
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Installation View
2016
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Tanning bed with ambience (Luminiferous aether) with Tea Hacic
2016
acrylic and spray paint on canvas with tanning bed, relaxation chair, cactus
96 x 132 x 36 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Tanning bed with ambience (Luminiferous aether)
2016
acrylic and spray paint on canvas with tanning bed, relaxation chair, cactus
96 x 132 x 36 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Gotterdammerung
2016
four channel HD video and mixed media sculpture with chairlift
13 x 7 x 7 feet
video in edition of 5 + AP
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw8 Thermidor Year CCXXIV Houseplant for your house
2016
oil and acrylic on canvas, with fishbowl, wigs, houseplant, grow light
84 x 120 x 15 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Stoup/sink for your sins/hands
2016
acrylic and spray paint on canvas, lights, sink, fountain
72 x 38 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
SOSsoso
2016
oil and acrylic on canvas, with men's underwear, video monitor and video
120 x 96 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Fear Itself (paired with classic joke)
2016
record player, ceramic banana, headphones, ceramic
48 x 16 x 18 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
!!??
2016
acrylic on canvas
48 x 32 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Man/woman with tiger/pussy in non/space
2016
acrylic and spray paint on canvas, with stuffed animal
72 x 48 inches
Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw
Eat your worms George Washington!
2016
acrylic and spray paint on canvas, with American flag, gummy worms, wig, sock
48 x 32 inches