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Chelsea Gallery Exhibit Explores Manhattan's Obsession With Facebook, Celebrities

By DNAinfo Staff on August 23, 2010 1:46pm

By Tara Kyle

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Have you taken your daily dose of Facebook?

That’s the question posed by Ryan Schultz’s “Facebook Pills,” an oil painting that puts a literal spin on Manhattanites' addiction to social media.

Schultz’s work is a part of a new exhibit in Chelsea exploring the objects of worship for modern New Yorkers — from social media and celebrity to sexuality and compulsive work ethics.

“Younger than Moses: Idle Worship” features mixed media pieces by emerging artists, the majority of them from New York. The concept is a riff on the New Museum’s 2009 exhibit “Younger than Jesus” exhibit, which highlighted artists born after 1976.

“Part of the idea of the gallery is that we’re very non-exclusive, so we wanted a figure who wouldn’t leave anyone out,” said gallery founder Leon Benrimon, referencing the ripe old age of 120 that Moses was believed to have lived to.

While August is traditionally the slowest time of year for Manhattan’s art scene, Benrimon saw an opportunity to spotlight emerging artists in that space before September, when galleries face pressure to emphasize bigger name artists.

After placing a call for submissions six months ago, Benrimon received approximately 2000 applications. 22 artists are featured in the exhibit. The exhibit was curated by Tali Wertheimer and Simmy Swinder of TS+ Projects.

One featured artist, Dylan Mortimer, tackles the tension between traditional religious worship and contemporary obsessions more directly than his peers.

The brass, aluminum and rhinestones used to make the “big, chunky, heavy, flashy and shiny” gold chains of “Pray-Ya” reflect society’s materialistic values of “more and bigger and better,” Benrimon said.

But the pendant at the bottom of those chains, which features clasped hands and the words “Pray-Ya,” speak to something more spiritual, according to the gallery owner.

Another piece, Travis Childers’ “Graph Paper Tanks,” examines compulsive workaholism — a familiar behavior for many New Yorkers.

The installation features more than one hundred three-inch cubic tanks made of graphic paper and glue. The artist took three minutes to carefully fold and position each of these, one after another, according to Benrimon.

“It really speaks a lot toward repetitive nature,” said Benrimon. “This perfectionist, obsessive nature has become an expectation in our society.”

“Younger than Moses: Idle Worship” runs through Sept. 11 at the Benrimon Contemporary at 514 West 24th Street.