Monument to an American Tragedy
A pop-up exhibition from artist Mary Minty
On View
June 2 - 4, 2023
Friday - Sunday
11 AM - 5 PM
Governors Island
Colonels Row, House 410A
New York, NY
Monument to an American Tragedy is a pop-up exhibition from Fountain House Gallery & Studio artist Mary Minty in observance of National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2. The exhibition features AI-generated images, poetry, and audio.
Artist Statement
"This exhibition is a monument to an American tragedy. America is engaged in a civil war about how to end gun violence. Focusing on the fact that the battle grounds include schools, this exhibition uses AI-generated imagery to capture the psychological impact of this reality. The children pictured are imagined - they are nobody's children and everybody's children. The school pictured is imagined - it is no school and every school."
- Mary Minty, artist
About the Artist
Born in Montreal, Canada, Fountain House Gallery & Studio artist Mary Minty works in the mediums of pencil, charcoal, acrylic, and photography. She studied fine arts at Ecole des Beaux-Arts (Montreal) and at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, UK. She pursued studies in humanities at McGill University (Montreal) and at University of Cambridge (UK). A significant inspiration for Mary's image-making derives from her experience as a teacher of humanities at the college-level; working with students from around the world afforded her the opportunity to be constantly "traveling," thereby encountering powerful imagery relating to global concerns such as the effects of plastic pollution. Mary's ongoing series of photographs, "Museums of Failed Capitalism," focuses on dollar stores, which house objects that have failed in other contexts.
The exhibition is part of public programming as part of Fountain House Gallery & Studio's residency on Governors Island.
Governors Island Arts' Organizations in Residence Program offers an exciting opportunity for arts, cultural, educational, and environmental nonprofits to share their work with the public and advance their missions in a setting unlike anywhere else in New York City.