B R I T A D ’A G O S T I N O :
R E CON ST R U C T I NG DE S I R E S
B R I T A D ’A G O S T I N O :
R E CON ST R U C T I NG DE S I R E S K I P P G A L L E R Y, INDIANA UNIVERSITY O F P E N N S Y LVA N I A , SEPT 15–OCT 31, 2020
INTRODUCTION The exhibition “Brita d’Agostino: Reconstructing Desires” focuses on the act of cultural consumption by transforming print media targeted towards women into dynamic and semiabstract collages as installations. Informed by historical art movements and contemporary practice, Brita d’Agostino reimagines the visual language of glamour magazines into hybridized collaged forms created both intentionally and intuitively. Through her process d’Agostino explores the visual design and patterns embedded in a social system of images carefully constructed to elicit desire in consumers. She is deconstructing and recombining surfaces, subverting the original meaning of the images through her own aesthetic investigations. Her playful synthesis of her source material into new forms and presented in a different context offers a fresh perspective of the content for the audience. The end result is a combination of shapes and color that borders on abstraction, yet incorporates elements of contemporary American consumer culture. Visit the exhibit online at: britadagostino.com/reconstructing-desires
Brita d'Agostino: Reconstructing Desires, virtual installation, 2020
Gold, 2016
Silver, 2016
Gold, installation, 2017
Silver, installation, 2017
Miss Match, 2018
Miss Match #3, 2018
Miss Match #2, 2018
Miss Match #4, 2019
Pink with Barbed Wire, installation, 2020
Black Piece #1, 2019
Gold Piece #1, 2019
Red #1, 2019
White Piece #1, 2019
Black Piece #2, 2019
Red Piece #2, 2019
Gold Piece #2, 2019
White Piece #2, 2019
ARTIST’S BIOGRAPHY Brita d’Agostino is an American interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator born in New York, NY. She received a BA in Art from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, 2003; and an MFA, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in 2007. Her work has been exhibited in national and international venues, including the Aperture Foundation, New York; and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY. She has been an Assistant Professor in the Art Department, New Mexico State University since 2017 and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Australia in 2018/19.
BRITA D’AGOSTINO: RECONSTRUCTING DESIRES EXHIBITION CHECKLIST Gold (2016–17) digital photographic prints, installation: 8 x 5.1� * Silver (2016–17) digital photographic prints, installation: 8 x 3.7� * Miss Match (2018) digital photographic prints, installation: 24 x 33�� Miss Match #2 (2018) digital photographic prints, installation: 30 x 29�� Miss Match #3 (2018) digital photographic prints, installation: 30 x 29�� Miss Match #4 (2019) digital photographic prints, installation: 30 x 29�� Pink With Barbed Wire (2020) digital photographic prints, installation: 5.9 x 7.2� Black Piece #1 (2019) digital photographic print: 12.2 x 9.5�� Gold Piece #1 (2019) digital photographic print: 7.7 x 13.6�� White Piece #1 (2019) digital photographic print: 8 x 11.5�� Red Piece #1 (2019) digital photographic print: 7.6 x 13.25�� Black Piece #2 (2019) digital photographic print: 8 x 11.4�� Red Piece #2 (2019) digital photographic print: 7.2 x 12.7�� Gold Piece #2 (2019) digital photographic print: 9.1 x 12.46�� White Piece #2 (2019) digital photographic print: 7.3 x 9.5�� * This work also available as a digital photographic print 30 x 20��, edition of 10.
BRITA D’AGOSTINO: RECONSTRUCTING DESIRES Kipp Gallery, Indiana University of Pennsylvania September 15–October 31, 2020 Online at: britadagostino.com/reconstructing-desires
Special thanks to: IUP Department of Art and Design, NMSU Department of Art, Peter d’Agostino, Neil Van Gorder and Danielle Hope Abram for their contributions to this exhibition. © 2020 Brita d'Agostino All rights reserved. No part of this catalogue may be transmitted or reproduced in any manner or form without prior and explicit permission from the copyright holder.