Constructing Sites & In your absence

Celebrate the opening 2 new exhibitions featuring Jaysen Hohlen, Sophia Munic and Jeffrey Haddorff.
 

To enter the gallery space, follow the driveway to the backyard.

ABOUT
Constructing Sites
Drawing from histories of gay neighborhoods in Minneapolis and his father’s forty year career in framing houses in Greater Minnesota, photographer Jaysen Hohlen is developing a body of artwork spanning across multiple photographic genres in order to produce thorough investigations into class, sexual privacy and land use.  His research pulls from two sites: the revitalization project of the Minneapolis Gateway District in the 1950s-60s, and current housing projects in Crow Wing County where his family resides and works.

Jaysen Hohlen (he/him) is a Minneapolis-based artist and writer whose works engage contemporary and historic gay cruising landscapes. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in Studio Arts in 2019. Hohlen has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including the Minnesota State Arts Board Continuous Support for Individuals and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council’s Next Step Fund. He has given artist talks at The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis College of Art and Design and Company Projects. Hohlen has exhibited locally and internationally at Yeah Maybe, Public Functionary and The Centre for the Periphery. He co-founded and currently runs the project space PAPA.

In you absence brings together Jeffrey Haddorff and Sophia Munic, two Minnesotan artists in sculptural disciplines. Displaying absence is not easy. There are pitfalls along the way. And on the other hand, calling attention to absence can overwhelm what is being directly presented to you. Can we make the artifact’s  presence the focus, rather than the ideas or story we want to tell with it? The melancholic potential this title seems to imply quickly gives way to the drama of Haddorff’s and Munic’s colorful objects. Frank Stella’s famous remark, “What you see is what you see,” a quip that signaled the demise of illusion and metaphor. Artwork in this show shares a bit of this intuitive drive, doesn’t deny the beauty of absence; rather, it draws on the pluralistic presence of time, taking stock of both where sculpture has been and where it is going.

Jeffrey Haddorff (he/him) is an artist, living and working in Northeast Minneapolis. He earned an MFA from the University of Minnesota, a B.A. in Psychology from Saint Olaf College, and studied the History of European Film at Kobenhavns Universitet.

Sophia Munic (they/them) recontextualizes traditional sewing and quilting techniques into sculptures that confront comfort, memory, and gender using a queer lens. They have recently completed a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska; and frequently hosts workshops at the Textile Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

This exhibition is proudly part of TC Arts week October 12-16, 2022. Learn More.