The New Normal

The New Nomal A Covid-19 Art Series, Exhibit III Virtual Reality Art Catalog

The New Normal A *Digi-Romantic Response to the Current 2020 Global Quarantine Covid-19 Series Exhibit III

June 18 – 30, 2020 Hosted by WMAS Curated by jada

EXHIBITING ARTISTS Dana Blickensderfer Ginat Salman Jamie Straz Jônatas Mozhgan Madani Rachel Rickert Stephanie Agudelo

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2020 will forever be known as the year of ruptures, decidedly unleashed by the Covid-19 health crisis. By mid-2020, however, it is apparent that this year’s main crisis is one of the Social Order, as the turmoil that now troubles Americans has exposed the fragility of our social fabric and our longing to heal and better socialize with one another.

Such insight becomes ever more apparent with the enforcement of full lockdowns, nationally ongoing quarantines, and mandatory curfews. Yet, this year’s latest social upheaval comes in the form of vast protests demanding a change in our country’s racial relations. Such protests have been fueled by a popular revolt against multigenerational systemic racism, and the unjustified killings of members of the African American community by law enforcement officers.

Amidst all the turmoil, one begins to ponder on what many are calling “The New Normal.” Is this a moment in which society finally stops to reconsider its core values? Is this a moment in which benefiting the collective will prevail over the interest of the individual?

Will a difficult but necessary dialogue happen for the sake of healing our society’s deepest wounds?

JADA’s virtual exhibit titled The New Normal will showcase artistic interpretations in 2D, 3D, and TimeBased Formats of future imaginaries, discussions, and investigations dealing with the Post-Pandemic and Post-Protest future world.

MANIFESTO ...................I.................. ...................Am................ .....................JADA.............

JADA is...........................me.

JADA is..............................you.

JADA is......................expansive.

JADA is.......................embracive.

JADA is..............................selective.

JADA is..................................scholarly.

JADA is.....................................idealistic.

JADA is....................................pragmatic.

JADA is........................................globalized.

JADA is.........................................a collective.

JADA is..........................................a movement.

JADA....................learns..........................the rules.

JADA....................breaks............................the rules.

JADA is...............................M E T A M O D E R N I S M .

JADA...................................................juxtaposes Dada.

JADA is......................................................interdisciplinary.

JADA is..................against.......................................Tribalism.

JADA.....................values.....................................timelessness.

JADA..............................challenges............................the trend.

JADA is................................an agent.........................of change.

JADA....................believes...........................................in achieving.

JADA is...................not restricted..........................................to a style.

JADA..............................................................criticizes art for art’s sake.

JADA....................................studies........................the human condition.

JADA accepts......................narrative......................................and folklore.

JADA values..............................................................rigorous studio practice.

JADA is against................................................................the victimary attitude.

JADA respects all.................................................................human complexities.

JADA seeks to...............................build....................................mutual connection.

JADA wants to change........................................................................the status quo.

JADA holds a.................................................................philosophical approach to art.

JADA believes that..........ART and ARTISTS...........are assets to the future of Humanity.

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JADA DEFINITION

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ADA artists share a philosophy central to their identity, as thinkers and makers. They acknowledge that no current or past Art movement is fully representative of their artistic disposition. They are mostly Y-generation adults, whose visual manifestations demonstrate a naivety that is both conceptually strong and highly informed. JADA is a Metamodern Art Collective, mediating between aspects of both Modernist and Postmodernist theories. It diverges from Modernism as it defends absolute universal truths, and from Post-Modernism as it excessively embraces irony and the concept of l’art pour l’art.

JADA’s contention with “art for art’s sake” stems from the lenience intrinsic to the concept. While recognizing that significant advances took place in the 1960’s and 70’s through Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg’s insights (i.e. that the painted surface should be the only valid concern of the artist), JADA understands that such notion also elevated mediocrity, thus hindered the future appreciation and sustainability of Art and Art careers. JADA understands that today’s society has grown detached from Art, partially due to Art’s detachment from society. By consistently rejecting deeper content, sincerity, narrative, folklore, observation of the natural world, examinations of the human condition, the didactic, the philosophical, the political, and the spiritual.

Art has divorced itself from pivotal roles that it once occupied.

JADA wants to change the status-quo, by mobilizing artists to embrace a pragmatic idealism as agents of culture, while challenging themselves scholarly, skillfully, and conceptually as makers of culture. It acknowledges that change will not come f rom the System, but from self-starting artists who can flourish in a globalized, fast-paced, technology-driven, informationrich, and culturally-underfunded world. JADA represents a murmuring artistic voice of the 21st century, as it rises to challenge the hegemony of the Establishment, to transform the perception of Art in society, and to occupy meaningful spaces in the macrocosm of the 2020s.

If you identify with any of these ideals,

YOU ARE JADA TOO.

Mozhgan Madani Oil on Canvas 2020

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Mozhgan Madani Oil on Canvas 2020

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Overheard at the Gate

Paint Pen, Acrylic, and Spray Paint on Canvas 45”x 60” Jamie Straz 2020

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15 Seconds of Fame

Paint Pen, Acrylic, and Spray Paint on Canvas 45”x 45” Jamie Straz 2020

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Waking Up from the American Dream Oil on Canvas 48” x 48” Rachel Rickert

2020

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Paradise of Sadness

Photography Ginat Salman 2018

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Paradise of Sadness

Photography Ginat Salman 2018

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Je veux l’unité, d’après Manet Oil on Canvas 60” x 36” Dana Blickensderfer 2020

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The New Norm

Photography Stephanie Agudelo 2020

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The New Norm

Photography Stephanie Agudelo 2020

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The New Norm

Photography Stephanie Agudelo 2020

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The New Normal Will Be Amazingly Immersive Oil on Canvas 36” x 48” Jônatas 2020

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Wake Up to the New Normal

Oil on Canvas 36” x 80” Jônatas 2020

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