Housed
6 Feb – 8 March, 2009
Press Release
“Housed” is a collection of paintings, drawings and constructions presented in a domicile-like setting where viewers may make themselves at home. The work portrays a variety of structures in which something might belong, or dwelling places for human beings, animals, inanimate objects, spirits (pie safe, bat house, reliquary, and home for female employees, to name a few).
The focal point of the show is a filmstrip chronicling a fictitious utopian society called Williams’ Meadow, “an ideal indoor advanced living community.” It is a bizarre hybrid of retirement community, gymnasium, theme park—a retirement community reflecting the peculiar ideals of its late founder, Gregory J. Williams.
In many of these pictures and models we are peering into windows or finding ourselves being peered at through windows of inhabited structures, from the diminutive guard booth to the large institutional residence. Whether too big, too small or just right, the domiciles of “Housed” explore the concept of belonging, home, and domesticity. This will be Brian Dewan’s third exhibition at Pierogi.