PRESS RELEASE

MARQUEE PROJECTS

WebSight

George Blaha

August 30 - September 29, 2019

MARQUEE PROJECTS is pleased to announce WebSight, the gallery’s first solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist George Blaha.  

A reception for the artist will be open to the public on Friday, August 30, from 6 to 8 pm.  An interview and discussion with the artist will begin at 5:30 pm.  The exhibition will run from Friday, August 30, through Sunday, September 29, 2019.

In WebSight, George Blaha draws our attention to the parallel between the computer’s virtual environment and our own inner, subjective world. For the past twenty years, he has been exploring the digital process and using both 2D and 3D software to build images of paintings, assemblages, sculptures, and interior spaces. By mostly avoiding the physical construction of object-making, Blaha gives himself greater leeway to philosophically explore and blur the boundaries between the real and the virtual. 

Referencing a broad range of interests and research including history, cosmology, physics, science fiction, sacred geometry, philosophy, and world religion, Blaha depicts seemingly "real" photographs of "real" artworks or other unidentifiable phenomena being shown in "real" spaces (often galleries). But the more we look, we realize that none of these layers of "realness" exist; and our exploration of his imaginary worlds provokes new perspectives on both the act of observing and our desire for tactility. 

A practicing Buddhist for 30 years, Blaha’s practice is deeply informed by a daily spiritual discipline of meditation and contemplation, and his work is infused with the essence of this passage from the Samadhiraja Sutra: 

            Know all things to be like this:

            A mirage, a cloud castle,

            A dream, an apparition,

            Without essence, but with qualities that can be seen.

George Blaha studied art history and philosophy at the University of Michigan and received his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  

His work has been exhibited at museums, art centers, and galleries across North America, including the Marsh Art Gallery at the University of Richmond Museums; Stedman Gallery at Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts, Rutgers University; Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota; Gibson Gallery at the Art Museum of SUNY; Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado; the Arts and Science Center for Southeastern Arkansas; Illinois State Museum; University Galleries at Illinois State University; Alan Koppel Gallery in Chicago; Lawrence & Clark in Chicago, Slow Gallery in Chicago, Neon Heater Gallery in Findlay, OH; and Marquee Projects in Bellport, NY. His work will be in the upcoming The Wrong Biennale Global Event (on-line) and Jerusalem (off-line).

In 2011, George Blaha was a recipient of the Illinois Arts Council’s Individual Artist Support Professional Development Grant. 

He currently lives and works in Chicago.