In Medias Res: Expanded
Torrance Art Museum, California | October 12 - December 07, 2024
FEMMEBIT x Supercollider Gallery present In Medias Res: Expanded
An exhibition of artworks by Los Angeles-adjacent, feminist and post-cyberfeminist artists who reimagine celluloid-based media for the decentralized realm of Life 3.0. LA's sun drenched, palm-dappled Hollywood aesthetic is reimagined as a diffuse and dis-related chaparral cityscape via video gifs, XR, and sculpture.
Huntrezz Janos Featured Artist
Among 17 featured artists including Anna Luisa Petrisko, Brian Dario, Casey Kauffmann, Eli Joteva, Ellie Pritts, Eve Lauryn LaFountain, Janna Avner, Jennifer West, Jennifer Juniper Stratford, Jody Zellen, Katia M Stewart, Matt Nespor, Petra Cortright, Richelle Ellis, Sarah Zucker, and Tuna Bora.
Curatorial Vision
Curated by digital artists Kate Parsons and Janna Avner, the exhibition celebrates the contributions of feminist and post-cyberfeminist artists who live in the vibrant city of Los Angeles. The exhibition takes its name from the narrative device "in medias res," inviting viewers to engage with the heart of the artists' stories as they explore personal relationships to Los Angeles.
Artistic Focus
These artworks challenge conventional definitions of cities in relation to mainstream media, geography and land ownership to explore new perspectives on urban environments existing in the imagination as much as in real life. Artists reinterpret the visual mainstays of Los Angeles from personal, multicultural, dreamlike, queer, decentralized, and other alternative histories.
Media & Technology
The wide range of mediums includes analog video, film, animation, AI, game engines and XR – reflecting the artists' navigation of LA's various creative industries including TV and film, video games, art world and cult of celebrity. Despite its competitive nature, LA is home to an extraordinary collaborative spirit.
Critical Reception & Reviews
As critic Holly Willis wrote in Filmmaker Magazine: "In piece after piece, the ease of the contemplative glance is cheerfully thwarted or even uncomfortably perturbed to craft a commentary on the very idea of the visual at this moment in time."
Willis describes experiencing Katia M. Stewart's sculptural installation Aliso Canyon: "I'm peering into a small pool of water held in a shallow, roughhewn clay bowl suspended from a bar held aloft by two ladders, and I see moving images of a child's face, hands, a woman, flowers, the blue of cyanotype, a strawberry. And then a drop of water disrupts the image with a sudden wave of concentric circles."
The exhibition was featured as part of Fulcrum Festival 2024: Waves Upon Waves and received coverage in Hyperallergic as one of "10 Art Shows to See in Los Angeles This November."
About FEMMEBIT & Collaboration
FEMMEBIT is a grassroots platform and triennial festival of Los Angeles-based artists working in video and new media. As a celebration that includes curated programs, symposiums, screenings and exhibitions, FEMMEBIT examines today's society at large as an ever-changing medium in how artists working with and between technologies enable progressive ideas to be born through active creation.
In Medias Res: Expanded was a collaboration between FEMMEBIT, SUPERCOLLIDER, and Torrance Art Museum. Despite LA's competitive nature, the city is home to an extraordinary collaborative spirit, without which these partnerships would not exist.
About Torrance Art Museum
Torrance Art Museum is the premier visual art space to view contemporary art in the South Bay. It is a program of the City of Torrance Cultural Services Division of the Community Services Department. The museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 11am-5pm. Admission is free.
Exhibition Links & Resources
- Official: Torrance Art Museum
- Supercollider: Exhibition Details
- Fulcrum Arts: Festival Context
- Artist Portfolio: Casey Kauffmann
- Critical Review: Filmmaker Magazine
2023
In Medias Res - Online Exhibition
Femmebit x Fera!File Collaboration
The 2023 online iteration of In Medias Res, presented through a collaboration between Femmebit and Fera!File, explored the possibilities of digital exhibition spaces and online artistic communities. This virtual exhibition examined how artists are adapting to and innovating within digital-first presentation formats.
Digital Presentation
This online exhibition pioneered new forms of digital curation and presentation, creating immersive virtual gallery spaces that allowed for innovative ways of experiencing media art outside traditional physical venues.
Collaborative Platform
The partnership between Femmebit and Fera!File created a unique platform for showcasing work by artists who are exploring gender, technology, and digital identity, fostering new forms of artistic community and dialogue.
Accessibility & Reach
By presenting work online, the exhibition made media art accessible to global audiences, demonstrating how digital platforms can democratize access to contemporary art and create new possibilities for artistic engagement.
Featured Artworks & Critical Perspective
Curatorial Vision: Beyond Hollywood's "Barbie"-esque Ideations
The artists selected for this exhibition are LA-based and LA-adjacent, with rigorous art practices in film, digital art and internet culture. These artists reinterpret the visual mainstays of Los Angeles from personal, multicultural, dreamlike, queer, decentralized, and other alternative histories to explain Los Angeles far better than Hollywood's palm-dappled, hegemonic and heteronormative "Barbie"-esque ideations.
Sarah Zucker - Strabismus Glaciacortex
An old Sony monitor rests sideways on a pillar playing a video that presents a kind of magic eye pattern as pastel pinks, blues, and purples pulse and throb, drawing viewers toward a decidedly vaginal vortex. "You want to stare, but it hurts!" - Holly Willis
Jennifer West - P22 on Film Holofan
A view of the mountain lion known as P22 presented in a flurry of 35mm imagery with added marks of color, transferred to digital and presented on holofans atop piles of rocks. The spinning fans create holographic projections with an uncomfortable flicker.
Petra Cortright - Digital Landscape Series
Three videos (1.mp4, 26.mp4, 33.mp4) featuring an anxious camera that prowls impatiently across digital landscapes. "We track quickly through grasses and rocks at ground level, then zoom up only to drop down, moving quickly with a series of jerks... this is what it's like to be human in our world right now."
Huntrezz Janos - FeralFemme Mask
Featured among the 17 artists exploring feminist and post-cyberfeminist perspectives through cutting-edge media art, challenging conventional definitions of cities and urban identities in relation to mainstream media and geography.
The works continue and honor a longer history of work intended to query, disrupt, suspend, glitch, and reimagine the norms – especially those of gender – that so badly govern our world and limit its potentials. As the exhibition asks: what, as we look around, do we choose not to see?
Artistic Significance
Participation in In Medias Res exhibitions represents recognition of innovative work that pushes the boundaries of traditional art forms, engaging with technology not as a tool but as a medium for exploring fundamental questions about identity, embodiment, and creative expression in the digital age.