The Robert and Gennie DeWeese Gallery at Bozeman High School is excited to present “Strangling the Fascist Viper,” an exhibition courtesy of Nathan Meltz. Based in Troy, NY, Meltz is an artist and educator whose work centers around silkscreen and animation.
The following statement accompanies Meltz’s work.
“Part critique, part fascination, the art I create examines the infiltration of technology into every facet of our lives, from family and food to politics and war. Nightmarish industrial creations are set against images of grand mechanical constructions, an off-kilter vision of technology. In my visual vocabulary, the contemporary world of nanotechnology and genetic modification is retrofitted with collaged analog machine parts. Collages of mechanical humanoids and animals turn into printmaking, animation, and sculpture, as I create visual narratives telling the story of a doomed robotic populace in a techno-dystopia.
In one narrative, a mechanical chicken strives to escape the torturous automated factory farm. In another, robot sex leads to reproductive disasters. In yet another, atomic technologies lead to nuclear holocaust. These tales of love, violence, and circuit boards alert the viewer to both the subtle, and not so subtle ways technology is sneaking into our lives, and prepares them to resist this inevitable robot invasion.
My current body of work is titled ‘Anti-Fascists.’ This body of work, based in printmaking, is a reinterpretation of art works made by American artists in the 1930–40s, as they responded to issues of fascism, capitalism, and corporatism.”
More information about and work by this artist can be found at www.nathanmeltz.com.
The DeWeese Gallery is free and open to the public. Visitors can park in visitor parking located on 11th Avenue in the northeast corner of the faculty parking lot. The gallery is located within Bozeman High School at 205 N 11th Ave. and is open from 9am–3pm, Monday through Friday. Stay up to date with gallery happenings on Facebook, @deweesegallery.
