by Tris McCall September 29, 2023
Disintegration @ Art House Productions
Much like “Disaster Place,” the art of Andrea McKenna feels like an expression of the pandemic mood: that combination of bewilderment, resignation, and hope that Jersey City people learned all too well. McKenna’s paints characters in transition, drifting out of existence or occluded by circumstance, losing their grips in the midst of the the storm. In “Disintegration,” she paints directly onto porous burlap, including sheets that are torn, burned, and adorned by melted metal. The bodies of her subjects are often faded, distant, and hard to make out, but the eyes are always fiercely present. Her color palette — institution greens, rust reds, pale whites, and the brown of rich topsoil — isn’t merely meant to be ghostly. It’s also an allusion to the Garden State post-industrial landscape and our shared remembrance of life as it once was. “Disintegration” closes this weekend just as “Disaster Place” opens. One way or another, we’ll keep this difficult conversation going. (Art House Gallery, 345 Marin Blvd.; Sep 29-30, 1-4 p.m.; IG: @arthouseproductions, visit www.arthouseproductions.com.)
"What's Left" from "Disintegration" Solo Exhibition by Andrea McKenna