Fernando Orellana is one of a growing number of artists worldwide who are creating works of art intimately connected to mechanics and technology.
His paintings and sculptural works – primarily interactive electronic and high-tech installations, or robots – are now on view at the Mandeville Gallery through May 11 in “Fernando Orellana: Recent Work.”
The new exhibition, which includes 14 paintings, four sculpture pieces and one video installation titled “The Nightly News,” explores issues of consumer culture and our relationship with war.
An artist’s reception is set for Friday, Feb. 22, 5–7:30 p.m.
Orellana’s paintings were inspired, in part, by the Mandeville’s recent “Armed” exhibition (subtitled "Contemporary Art and Violence"). That show explored the human obsession with weapons and the complexities of aggression.
The works in the new Mandeville exhibit encourage the viewer "to take a critical look at how we view weapons, how we relate to them and what we do with them." Orellana's robots interact and react to the viewer’s presence as he focuses on the climate of fear and paranoia that has developed post-9/11.
“Much of my recent work involves the increasing disengagement and disembodiment of people within our society, as we unwittingly allow technology to dominate our lives,” said Orellana, assistant professor of Visual Arts. “The ordinary objects that the modern world worships simultaneously drive our growth and cause our demise.”
The sculptures include “Carry On,” which explores ideas of paranoia, surveillance and voyeurism through a group of suitcases fitted out with surveillance equipment; and a large-scale piece called “Extruder,” which will mass-produce Play-Doh automobiles to equal the estimated worldwide production of automobiles produced in one hour in the year 2000 (approximately 4,740).
These two pieces encapsulate the major themes of the exhibition: fear, paranoia, accumulation, destruction and power.
Orellana is currently developing an electronic art program in the Computer Science Department. He holds a BFA in art and technology (1998) from the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from the Ohio State University Art & Technology program, where he continued his research into machine/sculpture automata, robotics, artificial life and painting.
He has exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Sotheby’s/Artlink galleries in Tel Aviv, London and New York, and he has received numerous scholarships and fellowships. Some recent exhibitions include “BrainWave: Common Senses” at Exit Art, New York City (2008); “EMERGENTES” at LABoral, Gijon, Spain (2007); and “Elevator’s Music” at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs (2007).
A full color catalogue of the new exhibition will be available March 17. For more about Orellana’s work, visit: www.fernandoorellana.com.