FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andy Johnson, Director
gallery102@gwu.edu
THE SHELL GAME
FEBRUARY 19 - MARCH 1, 2019
Image Credit: Tyler Wellington
WASHINGTON DC — Perhaps only devotees of The Price Is Right remember “The Shell Game” segment, but everyone knows the relatively simple ruse from which it was adapted. While the ancient street hustle merely masquerades as a fair contest, the game show version differs principally in so far as it is actually possible for players to win. However, even an apparently honest game can serve as a confidence trick. Out of thin air, within the confines of a TV-studio materializes an indisputable illustration of something exciting, something glamorous. In the end, yes it’s a giant commercial. But such public rituals of ecstatic consumption were all the more tantalizing before social media culture democratized the consumptive gaze. Consuming was scripted, predictable unpredictability, calculated risk. This culture of material inundation leaves a vivid psychological geography in its wake. Unveiling this very real space charged with hope, desire, hunger, and the innate desire to be recognized tempers the concurrent trend toward flat, digital spaces.
By elegantly eliding glitzy, lo-def game show set design with the crisp nonchalance of minimalism, Tyler Wellington’s thesis exhibition, The Shell Game reminds viewers that these two forms of consumptive spectacle share a geometry of desire, which seems to conceal as much as reveal. Here, Modernist sculpture is subtly recomposed and diffused into a coyly interactive installation. Alternating colored lights illuminate the way as shape slides into the surface. An inadvertent movement might transform viewer into unwitting participant. Canned applause is provided, engendering yet another empty circuit of spectacle. Under the glimmering gaze of no one in particular, contestants evaporate into the objects of their desire rarely leaving so much as a husk. And for the souvenir lovers- be sure to purchase a commemorative temporary tattoo, which is sure to molt before too long.
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PROGRAMS & EVENTS
- Tuesday February 19, 2019 // 5:00-7:00 pm - Join us for the opening reception of Tyler Wellington's MFA Thesis Exhibition The Shell Game. Light refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public; all are welcome to attend. To RSVP, click here.
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ARTIST
Tyler Wellington is a visual artist dealing with sculptural objects and installation-based work, though her studio and research approach remains multidisciplinary. Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she graduated cum laude from Davidson College with a degree in studio arts and religious studies before enrolling as an MFA candidate in studio arts at the George Washington University. This is her second solo exhibition.
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Gallery 102
Gallery 102 and the Student Exhibitions Committee (SEC) is committed to the exhibiting of contemporary art, including work from GW & Corcoran students, DC-area artists, and nationally recognized artists of all medium. The SEC consists of GW & Corcoran students -- undergraduate and graduate, majors and non-majors, artists and art historians -- who both develop innovative, original, and thought-provoking exhibitions throughout GW's campus and invite a select group of guest curators to present exhibitions each semester. The gallery provides practical curatorial experience to the student body. Students have the opportunity to exhibit work, curate shows, and install exhibitions.
