Monica d. Church, "Fair Is Fowl, Fowl Is Fair," 2007.

GO NORTH – A Space for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of Monica d. Church’s first solo show with the gallery. "Fly Away Little Bird" will be on view from May 5 through May 27, 2007. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, May 5, 6 - 9 pm.

Church began to formulate the ideas for her current work while reading the article Greetings Kill: Primer for a Pandemic, by Donald G. McNeil Jr. in The New York Times, in which the author muses about how Americans must learn to “rewrite the way we interact” as a result of the very real possibility of a global pandemic. The potential threat of a global pandemic of H5N1 virus (a type of avian influenza, or bird flu) became the basis for “Fly Away Little Bird.”

Representing a symbolic bird flu pandemic, the exhibition incorporates elements carefully chosen for both their literal and metaphorical power. For example, a wishbone is literally part of a dead bird, yet it is also potent as a vehicle of transformation: the longing for wish fulfillment. If we wish hard enough, will all of the bad stuff go away? There are invisible connections between the pieces in the exhibition: desire/fear, germs/health, scientific theory/superstition, travel/home, fragility of life/finality of death.

Church is a multimedia artist working in installation, painting, and photo-based printmaking. She studied printmaking at Rhode Island School of Design and Bennington College, where she received a B.A. in Visual Arts (1987). She went on to earn an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Kentucky (1993). She has won numerous awards and fellowships for her work, including the 2006-07 Dutchess County Art’s Council Individual Artist Fellowship for Digital Photography; The 2005 Steven Madwed Memorial Prize for Photography or Digital Art from the Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, Connecticut; The 2004 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Best in Show Award also at the Silvermine Guild Arts Center; a Carolyn Grant from Vassar College; the 2002 Dutchess County Art's Council Individual Artist Fellowship for Painting; and a fellowship for a six-week residency at the Woman’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York.

Gallery hours: 12 to 6 pm, Friday through Sunday.

Go North – A Space for Contemporary Art
469 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508
gonorthgallery@hotmail.com