An Increasingly Desperate Man at Alter Space

Artists: Body By Body, Gerasimos Floratos, Ida Ekblad, Last Renaissance, Marisa Takal, Michael Guidetti, Nate Boyce, Selena Matranga, Whitney Claflin, Win McCarthy

Exhibition title: An Increasingly Desperate Man

Curated by: Quintessa Matranga

Venue: Alter Space, San Francisco, US

Date: January 9 – February 20, 2016

Photography: Michael Guidetti, images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Alter Space, San Francisco

Inspired by the subject line of a failed ﬁlm review pitch that Quintessa Matranga received while working at the front desk at ARTnews, An Increasingly Desperate Man asks ten artists to create work in response to their own brand of desperation as working artists. Employing this directive are a range of artists working across medias from San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, and Oslo.

New York-based artists Melissa Sachs and Cameron Soren collaborate as Body by Body. Recent solo exhibitions include Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York, NY; Mission Comics, San Francisco, CA; Levy Delval, Brussels, Belgium; and Château Shatto, Los Angeles, CA.

Gerasimos Floratos is a New York-based painter. Recent exhibitions include Sorry We’re Closed, Brussels, Belgium; Know More Games, Brooklyn, NY; and SKYLAB, Columbus, Ohio.

Ida Ekblad lives and works in Oslo, Norway and works across painting, sculpture and poetry. Recent solo exhibitions include BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK; Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin; Greene Naftali Gallery, New York; and National Museum of Norway-Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway.

Last Renaissance is a frequently updated online archive of original computer–generated characters co run by Ian Maberley, Alex Moquist and Rafael Delacruz.

Marisa Takal was born in 1991 in Montclair, New Jersey. She received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2013. Her work as been exhibited at SADE LA, Los Angeles, CA; Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Secret Recipe, Los Angeles, CA; Rock512Devil, Baltimore, MD; Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA; Skylab Gallery, Columbus, OH; Mission Comics and Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA; sophiajacob, Baltimore, MD; and Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Michael Guidetti is an Amsterdam-based artist working in audio, video, sculpture and painting. Recent exhibitions include Jancar Jones, Los Angeles, CA; Seventeen, London, UK; and Minibar, Stockholm, Sweden.

Nate Boyce is a San Francisco-based artist known for his hybrid sculpture-video work. Recent solo exhibitions include Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE; and Altman Siegel, San Francisco, CA.

Selena Matranga is an Oakland based artist working in sculpture, printmaking and video. She is currently attending Mills College.

Whitney Claﬂin is a New York-based artist working in painting, writing and performance. Recent exhibitions include Real Fine Arts, Brooklyn, New York; Thomas Erben Gallery, New York, NY; and The Green Gallery, Milwaukee, WI.

Win McCarthy is a New York-based artist working in sculpture and poetry. Recent exhibitions include Off Vendome, New York, NY; Sculpture Center, Queens, NY; Kate Werble Gallery, New York, NY; and Richard Telles Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

Quintessa Matranga is an artist and independent curator living in New York. Recent exhibitions include Et al in SF, and Rope in Baltimore. She has forthcoming exhibiton with Rafael Delacruz at Kimberley Klark in ridgewood NY.