Exhibition explores how art can function during disasters

“Jillian Mayer: Timeshare,” a solo exhibition by the Miami-based artist that explores how art can function and/or aid during times of disaster or when the planet becomes uninhabitable, will be on view Jan. 31 through May 11 in the UB Art Gallery in the Center for the Arts, North Campus.

An opening reception will take place from 5-7 p.m. Jan. 31 in the gallery.

Mayer’s practice continually explores how technology affects our lives, bodies and identities by investigating the blurred lines between our physical and online worlds in regards to dependency and value.

Recent works by the artist include her prolific group of “Slumpies” — the artist’s sculptural answer to the shape our bodies take while engaging with hand-held technology. While referencing the history of art and the live model, these playful, yet critical sculptures address the way humans are physically altering their bodies due to these technologies. Often paired with humorous promo-videos, these deeply imperfect sculptures are inviting, as well as entrenched with contemporary marketing techniques, allowing their reach to stretch between the art gallery and the storefront.

Growing up in Florida, one of the states that stands to face global warming head on, Mayer was inundated with a lifetime of hurricane seasons and alerts. She is continuing her exploration into survivalist and prepper subculture tendencies that stem from her personal experience, as well as a more general global experience of environmental disaster and concerns of infrastructural collapse.

The works in “Timeshare” respond not only to the emotional fallout that comes with this type of collapse, but also the methods humans use to adapt during these times.

Mayer’s work uses a formula of part solutionism, part subtle denial, mixed with an “everything will be fine” attitude. While the problem might be too large to be addressed in any actual sense, the works in this show attempt to do so, with humor and insight.

For example, “A Sculpture Can Be Used As A Flotation Device In Times Of Emergency” is a text work that greets viewers and sets the stage for the exhibition.

Moving further into the exhibition, the viewer is transported into a contemporary conservatory, an indoor/outdoor sculpture park of sorts, complete with fountains, architectural resting zones and greenery. Through a variety of mediums that include video, painting and sculptural objects, Mayer’s environment can act as a place that offers refuge and solace, while also serving as a blueprint for garden designers of the future. “Timeshare” investigates and comments on both art’s objective and the artist’s responsibility.

After closing at UB in May, the exhibition will travel to the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, where it will open in November.

The exhibition is curated by Rachel Adams, chief curator and director of programs at the Bemis Center, who previously was senior curator at the UB Art Galleries. Support for “Jillian Mayer: Timeshare” is provided by Darryl Lauster and Kristin Schartz-Lauster.

Mayer’s works and performances have premiered at galleries and museums across the U.S. and internationally, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami and the Contemporary Museum of Montreal, as well as at the Sundance, SXSW, Rotterdam and New York Film festivals.

Named one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” for 2012 by Filmmaker Magazine, Mayer is a recipient of the 2015 Creative Capital Fellowship, the 2011 and 2014 South Florida Cultural Consortium’s Visual/Media Artists Fellowship, and the 2012 Cintas Cuban Foundation Fellowship. She also was a 2014 fellow of the Sundance New Frontiers Lab Program.

The UB Art Gallery in the Center for the Arts is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday.

Admission is free.