Ron Terada – Being There, NOVEMBER 5, 2011–JANUARY 15, 2012
Ron Terada Being There November 5, 2011–January 15, 2012
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, USA
Terada does not wear his heart on his sleeve, and in his choice of media, slogans, and approaches he deflects any easy recognizability, yet slowly and carefully his work reveals a deeply human desire to communicate. This conflict is apparent in the title of the exhibition, Being There. Through these paintings, sculptures, signs, videos, and photographs he tries to impart aspects of himself, and yet nowhere is a straightforward self-portrait on offer. In classic Generation X fashion—to use the term coined by his fellow Vancouverite Douglas Coupland, an artist, theorist, and novelist—Terada’s career thus far embodies Coupland’s idea that “the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony.” Terada has shown extensively in Canada and been included in many group shows worldwide. This is only his second solo exhibition in the United States.
This exhibition is curated by MCA James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator Michael Darling.
