Abdul Mazid - Observations in Nature

July 11 – August 29, 2015
Opening Reception: Saturday July 11, 6-8pm

Shoshana Wayne Gallery is pleased to present Observations in Nature by Abdul Mazid. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. Comprised of sculpture and painting, this body of work continues Mazid’s exploration of global economies, wealth accumulation, power dynamics, and structures of value. Observations in Nature is bound thematically by the metaphor of the shark. Influenced by philosopher Slavoj Zizek’s analysis of the film “JAWS” (1975), Mazid’s conceptualization of the shark refers to society’s tendency to insist upon the “othering” and villification of people, ideas, and practices. As such, the artist’s use of the shark stands in for all foreign and domestic “threats” to normative ideological pedagogies. The artist selects his references carefully and intentionally, pulling imagery from the iconography of global economic power structures such as the New York Stock Exchange trading floor, trophy shark fishing, Disney’s Fantasia, professional sports, and military fighter jets. Mazid’s glitter paintings reproduce familiar imagery while at the same time destabilizing their conventional meaning. Using a multi-step silk screen process, the artist appropriates recognizable scenes/images that can be found in media or on the internet, he then abstracts them with the application of glitter. Similar to the effects of Mazid’s use of glitter, his shark fin, manta ray, and fighter jet resin coated sculptures attract and bounce light drawing the viewer in. It’s not until the viewer gets closer that he or she notices that the surface is covered with collectible holographic baseball cards. Mazid’s conceptual angle: an obsession with hyper-masculinity, bodies as economy, the commerce of collect-ability, and idolatry, aligns with his choice of materials and his overall investigation of micro vs. macro politics and the idea of surface as seductive illusion or distraction. In the west gallery 100,000,000 Years, a shark jaw made from rebar and steel stands 7’ high casting ominous shadows around the room. Simultaneously alluring and dangerous, the shark jaw features sharp teeth yet exposes the foundation of a structure that is completely man-made. While the first impulse might be fear, Mazid insists upon a more complex relationship to the shark—one that demands a consideration of how fear is reproduced and the ways in which we blindly follow and support destructive ideologies. Abdul Mazid has an MFA from Claremont Graduate University (2014) and a BA in Economics from University of California Santa Barbara (2003) and. Mazid lives and works in Los Angeles.