The Invisible Dog is thrilled to present a new exhibition by ID artist Mac Premo at Atelier Jolie.
Artist Mac Premo has constructed a series of new work by using his body of older work as the raw material. By precisely cutting, haphazardly tearing, or outright smashing dozens of pieces spanning the last quarter-century, Premo built a reserve of material with which he created “new” collage, assemble and sculptural work. Collage as collage material.
A few words by Mac Premo
There is no starting over, no tabula rasa.
I think the next step forward is to dismantle. I don’t think innovation is always the answer, because a lot of current innovation is merely marketing. It’s a lecture series celebrating philanthropic endeavors that solve market-driven problems created by pretty much everyone in the audience.
Look, I don’t know how to dismantle entire power structures or economic paradigms. But I do know how to recognize structures within my own tiny body of work, analyze them, disassemble and reconstruct using those materials.
Reconstruction– in art or nation states– will inevitably contain the DNA of the past and present. The future has always been built with materials at hand. But simply building a better mousetrap isn’t good enough anymore. Innovation isn’t good enough anymore. We need to really rip shit apart. I’m not talking about rampant destruction– I’m neither that punk rock nor that January 6th. I’m talking about intentional radicalism: the realization that because we authored all these power structures, their resultant turmoil is on our byline as well.
The way forward is to disassemble. And while the re-building material we are left with may barely be familiar, at least we’ll know it has structural integrity.
Mac Premo makes art, commercials and films. Born in Washington DC in 1973, Mac graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1995 and moved to New York that same year. His films and art have exhibited worldwide, including The Brooklyn Museum, the Ringling Museum, PS1 MoMA, The Invisible Dog Art Center and The New Museum. Mac has won 13 New York Emmy® Awards for his video and animation work, including awards for best commercial, photography, set design and best PSA. Sometimes he writes and performs one-man plays. Mac is a NYFA Fellow, a recent fellow of The New Institute in Hamburg, Germany, and lives in Brooklyn with his tremendous wife and two totally radical kids. And also their dog, Philomena.
instagram: @macpremo
website: www.macpremo.com
Admission:
Free
On view:
Friday January 31 — Saturday March 1, 2025
Opening Reception
Friday January 31
6-8pm
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 11am–6pm
Closed Sunday and Monday