A COMFORTABLE VIOLENCE

Em Rea, Kay Seohyung, and Meredith Sellers

March 3 - April 14, 2023
319 N. 11th St. Unit 3J Philadelphia 19107

Opening Reception: Friday, March 3, 2023

A Comfortable Violence showcases paintings and sculptures that create portals into known and unknown worlds built on disarray, the expiration of the American dream, and a need to find logic in chaos. The artists utilize imagery of destruction and violence, while simultaneously evoking a sense of solace through playful colors, subjects, and the meticulous care taken in their artistic processes. 

Within the exhibition, visitors are confronted with Kay Seohyung Lee’s Hellscapes series (2020-ongoing)—Bosch-inspired landscapes where faceless figures engage in both brutal acts of violence and various states of play. Lee’s use of inviting colors and hidden jaunts welcomes the viewer inside the grotesque world she’s created. 

Playing with a similar juxtaposition between horror and easement, Meredith Sellers’ works reference classical paintings and their relationship to windows. Her canvases are sized based on windows from her own home and depict brutal car crashes. These moments of severe violence sit on top of mild pastel backgrounds, pairing violence with attraction. 

Lastly, Em Rea’s sculptures are created using abandoned items in their neighborhood, repurposing them with care to compose new devastation. These regenerated pieces not only reference home, and the violence of our present world, but also suggest rebuilding anew through abolition. 

A Comfortable Violence asks viewers to address how we desensitize ourselves from the everyday terrors we collectively face in the way we move throughout the world.