Desire Lines
A Group Exhibition of Works on Paper
Featuring: Carmel Dor, Ash Fritzsche, Kyle Kogut, Jamison Mead, Pomona Za
Desire Lines refer to the informal, often dirt walkways created when people opt for alternative routes in place of established sidewalks or paths. Physical manifestations of a collective choice to diverge from the preordained. Artistic processes often mirror this concept, with sketches, planning drawings, or scribbled notes serving as mental shortcuts to an actualized idea. There is never a singular path towards a completed piece of art, but rather ever changing pathways forged by trial and error; inspiration and vision.
The exhibition, Desire Lines, aims to capture this concept through both complete and incomplete works on paper installed on intersecting steel cables. Positioned at varying heights, some above the audience's head, and some close to the ground, not all works will be fully legible. The drawings will undergo periodic repositioning throughout the duration of the exhibition, reflecting the forging of Desire Lines.
Desire Lines will be on view at Information Space from May 18th through June 22nd. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 18th from 5-8pm at 2024 E Westmoreland Ave, Philadelphia PA. Participating artists include Carmel Dor, Ash Fritzsche, Kyle Kogut, Jamison Mead, Pomona Za.
About the Artists:
Carmel Dor is a Philadelphia-based artist, educator, and poet. Their research-based practice uses painting, drawing, zine-making, and sculpture to investigate felt time in moments of transition. In their recent work, Dor is particularly interested in how queer theories of mutable identity formation map onto the Jewish Diaspora and Israeli Nationality as sites of historical and necessarily forthcoming transition. They received their B.A. in Studio Art and Art History from the University of California, Davis and their MFA from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University. They are currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture.
Ash Fritzsche (b. 1989, Melbourne, Australia) is a tradeswoman and artist living in Philadelphia. She uses painting and printmaking to explore concepts of home, grief and ritual and to create tentative maps of belonging.
Kyle Kogut (b. 1990 Philadelphia, PA) is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in drawing and sculpture. Raised a devout Roman Catholic and the son of an auto mechanic, Kogut's work uses the symbols of Occultism and Christianity, the visual culture of the Late Medieval and Northern Renaissance, and the ubiquitous iconography of brand logos to explore the politics of American zealotry, myth, and despair. Kogut graduated with an MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art multidisciplinary program at MICA in 2016. He received his BFA from Tyler School of Art in 2012. His work has been included in group shows nationally and has had solo and two person exhibitions in Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, College Park MD, Detroit, Richmond, New York, City, and Wilmington NC. Kogut was a member of FJORD in Philadelphia, attended residencies at the Summer Studio Program at the Anderson at VCU in 2019 and the Summer Residency Program at the Wassaic Project in 2022. He currently resides in Norfolk, VA serving as a Lecturer of Drawing and Foundations at Old Dominion University.
Jamison Mead is a drawer and painter based in Philadelphia, PA. Mead’s artistic practice is a nuanced exploration of memory, media, and the tangible remnants of everyday life. References to music, television, and digital media are seamlessly incorporated into their work, alongside bits of landscape and found, collected, and made objects. In Mead's compositions, the references, text, and bodies are fragmented and incomplete, causing focal points to get lost. Mead flattens perspective and hierarchies between subjects, aiming to reinterpret the familiar. The external world exists alongside the interior in their art.
Pomona Za (b.1984) lives and works in Philadelphia. They earned a BFA from the University of the Arts and a Masters in Library Science from Drexel. With practices ranging from experimental performance to traditional still life painting, they are currently working on a large series of small paintings from the imagination.
About The Information Space:
The Information Space (Info) is an artist-run gallery and event space in Port Richmond Philadelphia. Established in 2019, we provide a platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their work in a supportive environment. Always encouraging artists to blur the line between studio and gallery, challenge the conventional, and push the boundaries of their creativity. We believe that experimentation finds new depths of intrigue within the structured confines of a gallery space, and it is our mission to celebrate and champion such innovative expressions.