BERLIN, Germany- Merry Karnowsky Gallery Berlin is proud to present The Grand Illusion, a solo exhibition of new paintings by renowned California artist Camille Rose Garcia.
Garcia found inspiration for her new body of works in the animated films Bambi and Princess Mononoke, which explore the dangers of man�s careless interactions with nature, as he conquers his surroundings. The Grand Illusion examines Americans� dysfunctional relationship with the natural world, in which rampant denial and uncanny optimism maintain a collective naivety that prohibits the recognition of reality: namely, the imminent ecological crisis.
The paintings are distractingly pleasant, yet, within the distraction lies danger. They are exaggerated, Disney versions of nature: more vivid, charming and entertaining than the real thing. Super-bright colors convey a simulated nature, enhanced to a dizzying degree. Drugs and vice abound in the forest, where the animals are being administered pharmaceuticals to ensure their pacification and participation in the grand illusion.
In a large wall mural titled, �The Grand Delusion,� a giant rabbit jumps out of a giant hat, pregnant with all the products and comforts of modern society. Cars, oil, bread, pills, cakes and lawn furniture intertwine to create the giant magic trick; endless products of the industrial revolution issue from some unknown place. The arrival of these modern marvels is never questioned, and the destructive processes of the products� making are never recognized. Elaborate systems of denial, filled with beautiful distractions, mask the failures of the industrial revolution.