When:
December 20, 2016 @ 10:00 am – 6:00 pm America/Chicago Timezone
2016-12-20T10:00:00-06:00
2016-12-20T18:00:00-06:00
Where:
The Agora Borealis
421 Lake St
Shreveport, LA 71101
USA
Cost:
Free

American Monsters exhibit by Ben Moss & Linda Dickson

Moss and Dickson’s collaborative exhibtion, American Monsters, will be on view 12.18.16 – 1.28.17.

AMERICAN MONSTERS
The art for this exhibition sort of took on a life of its own. The aim from the outset was to merge the artistic styles of Ben and Linda, utilizing Linda’s love of texture and layering and Ben’s lowbrow/street art/comic book sensibility. What the artists did not anticipate was the level of commentary that would spill forth in the process of creating the work.

Ben often pokes fun at American social tendencies with his giant, stupid cartoon heads. Anyone who has seen his work understands this. Linda’s work often contains layers of subtle meaning, echoing the physical layers of paint and collaged objects. Together, working during one of the most contentious election cycles in recent memory, the artists created what they feel is a biting, sarcastic funhouse mirror of our divided, fractured society.

This body of work is intentionally lowbrow. It is intended to provoke, amuse, ridicule, and incite. It is the artists own ridiculous, distorted reflection. They hope that it points out how absurd we have all become. The artists hope that this recognition helps us imagine ways that we can be better. We don’t have to be American Monsters.

J. Ben Moss lives and works in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has exhibited in group exhibitions throughout the Ark-La-Tex region, including Gallery 26 in Little Rock, Artspace and minicine? in Shreveport, LA and numerous live painting exhibitions in Dallas with the ArtLoveMagic nonprofit arts organization.He received his BA from Northwestern State University and is currently in his thesis rotation for his MLA at Louisiana State University Shreveport.

His most recent illustration work is visually adapting excerpts from classic literature for “The Graphic Canon” volumes 2 and 3 from Seven Stories Press, as well as illustrating his self-published book of children’s literature, “peculiar poems for pint size provocateurs.”

More examples of Mr. Moss’s paintings, illustration, and design work can be found at:
jbenmoss.tumblr.com

Linda was born in Shreveport and grew up in Natchitoches. She studied art at Northwestern State University, but became restless before she finished and went on to experience life in Texas, Arkansas, and North Carolina before returning to Louisiana. She enjoys experimenting with different acrylic techniques and often wonders how many dog hairs become trapped in the many layers of paint she uses.