ORCHID.Seasons
Matthew Morrocco
presented by The Olympia Project

The Port Authority Bus Terminal, Chashama and The Olympia Project will present Orchid.Seasons, a selection of photographs by Matthew Morrocco at the Port Authority Bus Terminal’s “Project Find” space on 9th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. The work will be viewable starting the evening of October 10 and has been extended to run through Fall, 2020.

Matthew Morrocco presents deceptively serene scenes featuring the character Orchid as they traverse the seasons, diving deeply into considerations of how humans interact with nature, and the masks we present to the world of ourselves. Morrocco’s use of vinyl as the material of choice when exhibiting the work is as unique as it is revealing; lending an additional sense of impermanence and fragility to the work. Throughout history artists have represented the seasons; from Michaelangelo to Joseph Albers and Ellsworth Kelly, artists have been interested in the emotional and philosophical value of color. Red stands out and can symbolize aggression, while blue hangs back, suppresses the appetite and makes one feel serene. Yellow, like C­-sharp on the piano, is for happiness. Morrocco places this melancholic monochrome figure at the centerpoint of this work to discuss our problematic anthropocentric drive, catalyzing our better impulses toward a more symbiotic coexistence. Orchid.Seasons is the first time that scenes from each of Morrocco’s four seasons will be seen together, bringing the work full circle.

The figure does not fit into the landscape, as if contemplating the twilight years of the earth as we know it. It is not color that matters within the images, but the interaction of the figure within the landscape. The figure wanders through the pictures as if singing a too-­late ­love ­song for something they lost. While humans were busy remaking the earth in their own anthropocentric image, nature has continued to ebb and flow with the seasons all the while never ceasing to bring us the brilliant colors of the rainbow. But for how much longer?

Matthew Morrocco is an artist working in photography and installation. He holds a BA from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and an MFA from Columbia University. His work has received grant support from the New York Foundation of the Arts, a blade of grass, NYU, and Columbia University. Recent exhibitions include ORCHID.Summer at The Olympia Project, NY, Complicit at NYU’s Gallatin Gallery, NY, and ORCHID.rbg at Pioneer Works, NY. His book, Complicit, was published in September, 2018 with Matte Editions. 

For more about Matthew, visit him online at http://www.matthewmorrocco.com/ or follow him on Instagram

The Olympia Project is a project and exhibition platform founded by independent curator Sophie Olympia Riese. For more about the Olympia Project, visit it online at www.olympia-project.com/ or follow on Instagram

Founded in 1921, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey builds, operates, and maintains many of the most important transportation and trade infrastructure assets in the country. The agency’s network of aviation, ground, rail, and seaport facilities is among the busiest in the country, supports more than 550,000 regional jobs, and generates more than $23 billion in annual wages and $80 billion in annual economic activity. The Port Authority also owns and manages the 16-acre World Trade Center site, where the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center is now the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The Port Authority receives no tax revenue from either the State of New York or New Jersey or from the City of New York. The agency raises the necessary funds for the improvement, construction or acquisition of its facilities primarily on its own credit. For more information, please visit http://www.panynj.gov

For all inquiries, please contact Sophie at art@sophieolympia.com

Rights to all images owned by the artist, Matthew Morrocco.



Join our mailing list.

675 3rd Ave,
32nd floor,
New York, NY 10017

info@chashama.org
© 2024
Privacy Policy