“Julianne Montague: A Composition in Six Parts”
New Work by Mike Zahn
Gesso Artspace
Maria Lassnig Straße 33 1100 Wien
January 2023
“Julianne Montague: A Composition in Six Parts“, 2023
Detail of gallery view
Gesso Artspace
“Julianne Montague: A Composition in Six Parts” presents the work of one artist by imagining possibilities sensed in that of another. This material evokes the reverie of an Edenic daydream where limits of agency, authorship, identity, and ideation are discovered in the affinities between two people. The promise inherent in this activity shapes conditions of knowing in novel ways.
An ethics of generosity is key to unlocking a conception of self wherein the magnanimous gesture of a friend is faced. As lives are structured by expressive contributions to the larger world, the challenge of this ethical turn requires accepting that which is offered. As this transposition establishes the pleasure of belonging, a humbly empowering grace is bestowed in welcoming the giving of a gift. This radical acceptance begets a sense of dignity.
The highest virtue is uncommon and useless. It perpetuates an awareness of exchange which surmounts routine experience, and frees energy from perpetual cycles of utility. In this group of works, the manifestation of an avatar and of an idea embodied therein come to exist as an integrated tactile presence made visible through a pure expression of feeling. The highest virtue thus shines as it is shared. It is adamant, and real, and in its potential is revealed as the capacity to love.
Mike Zahn https://www.mikezahn.com
