No Irony Here

The Parlour Bushwick presents “No Irony Here”, featuring work by David Kramer, Cate Giordano, Paul Gagner, and Claudia Bitran.

“No Irony Here” showcases four artists that use irony to express their disappointment, explore gender identity, come to understand that which seems larger than life and to visualize their conflicting desires of self-expression.

Using a style that replicates lifestyle magazine advertisements from 1970’s, David Kramer’s imagery describes a life of ease, wealth and romance; yet the text that goes along with the image turns the narrative on its head. Rather than selling a glamorous ideal the work creates feelings of discomfort, failure and disillusionment. All of this together: the image, the style of painting and the text offer a surprising “lol”.

Cate Giordano’s use of drag in her videos allows her to defy social norms and create a believable world where she inhabits multiple personas. Her “campy” and “bare bones” style allows the viewer to experience the physical nature of her set construction as well as get a glimpse of the person behind the makeup. It is a way to truthfully and humorously engage the viewer in a melodrama that investigates southern stereotypes, gender roles and romance.

Playing the role of the fan, Claudia Bitran deconstructs popular videos and Hollywood movies to discover that which might have initially created awe. In her video piece “Intros”, she recreated each introduction in a miniature form. This primitive hands on approach takes the larger than life effect out of the picture to reveal a humanistic element in an otherwise corporatized fantasy world.

Paul Gagner jokes with his self- doubt. His inner dialogue when painting is a struggle between abstraction and object. While fascinated with abstract painting he can’t help but give it context. For example, in “Backscratch Fever” he creates abstract lines that are also scratches on the skin, this is depicted by a woman’s purple nails running her fingers down a man’s back. In this way, Gagner humorously makes associations that reference art genres as well as current cultural trends not just through abstract marks but the narrative of the painting.