Shawn Mayer

Failed Perfection,

December 9, 2020 - January 2, 2021

The Liliana Bloch Gallery is pleased to present a new exhibition by Shawn Mayer entitled Failed Perfection, featuring his latest body of work. Failed Perfection is a collection of pieces depicting the deep seeded disappointment of crumbling institutions both physical and spiritual. Through a series of altered found objects and repurposed symbols and rituals, it captures a snapshot of the fall as it tumbles frozen in the moment when that realization of failure occurs. Hell comes in many forms, but for the artist it is that in which one is stuck reliving their inadequacy over and over. But, as they say, it is not the rest of the story, as the pieces are presented through the delightful objects of which only can be described as Kitsch. Sure, beauty is only skin deep, and ugly is through and through, but kitsch is forever, the perfect combination of the two.

Shawn Mayer holds an MFA in Arts and Technology from the University of Texas at Dallas, a BA in Music and a BFA in Drawing from the University of Missouri. He has worked in animation, production and post- production for television and commercial programming. His work aims to bridge the gap between physical, traditional and technological media, combining them with immersive and interactive elements to create new and unconventional art. His areas of focus include online media, emergent play, improvisation, and folk practices displayed in gallery spaces to create unexpected experiences. Mayer is an alumni resident at CentralTrak: the UT Dallas artists’ former residency program. His work has been shown at the Lawndale Art Center, the Houston Art League, CentralTrak, 500X Gallery, and Sweetpass Sculpture Park.