WindowWorks: Karen Mahaffy

09.10.08

Karen Mahaffy's digital videos, cut paper works, and installations deconstruct the differences between movement and stillness, interior and exterior, past and present. As she describes in her artist's statement, her work "serve[s] as a reminder of the exquisite contained within the ordinary ... [and seeks] to capture that which exposes otherwise passed-over moments."

For her WindowWorks exhibition, Mahaffy presents a triptych that simulates an ornately furnished space. The theatrical set-like construction of a domestic interior in Artpace's Main Avenue gallery windows capture the shadows cast by natural light during the day and artificial light in the evening. A vinyl silhouette of a chandelier form adhered to the window casts its shadow, creating the illusion of a familiar dining room setting. The interaction of natural and artificial elements reveals the influence of light and form as they affect our perception of space.

This exhibition is supported by The Brown Foundation, Inc. and Texas Commission on the Arts.

Mahaffy received her MFA from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1996. She currently teaches at Palo Alto College, San Antonio, TX. Her one and two-person exhibitions in San Antonio include Unit B Gallery (2007), McNay Art Museum (2005), and Sala Diaz 2005). Mahaffy's work has been featured in exhibitions such as Impossible Exchange, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Texas (2006); The Stray Show Art Fair, Chicago, Illinois (2004); and Beyond the Academy, ArtHouse Jones Center for Contemporary Art, Austin, Texas (2003). In 2006, she participated in the Red Gate Gallery Residency Program, Beijing, China. In 2004, she was the recipient of a Fulbright Group Travel Grant to China.

On view September 18 - November 30, 2008

Artpace San Antonio
445 N. Main Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78205

445 North Main Avenue San Antonio TX 78205 t 210 212 4900 f 210 212 4990 www.artpace.org