PLUG PROJECTS first solo show : MULTI-CHANNEL : an exhibition in flux

MULTI-CHANNEL : an exhibition in flux”:
A solo show with work by Andrew Schell
January 20 – March 3, 2012

“Multi-Channel” by Andrew Jacob Schell is an environment of paintings, performances, sound, video surveillance and Internet presence.  Schell’s ideas regarding systems, artificial organism structures, interactions of parts within the whole, and control vs. chance will be expanded on and tested within the gallery space.  The site of the gallery will function as an art laboratory for experimentation as the exhibition continues to evolve over the six-week period. The viewers will be able to both witness the artist at work and the evolution of the installation. Thus the visitors to the gallery will become active participants in the process, affecting the work by their presence within the environment.

Schell approaches his work from the position of a “tinkerer” or an experimental scientist with a strong interest in industrial design, architecture, and media manipulation.  In this exhibition, Schell questions the support structures that we exist within and take for granted.  Both physical systems as well as systems of belief are presented in a new light that challenge traditional mode of art presentation and the artist/audience relationship.  He builds comparisons between aerial views of suburban subdivisions and motherboards that are built up through layers of paint, cut plastic, and fiberboard.  His paintings are imbedded in a history of process and employ organic motifs that simultaneously fracture, shift, grow, and spread.   The layers read as terrains of thought and contribute to Schell’s understanding of American culture and identity.

Schell will be inviting a series of artists to collaborate with him through improvisational interactions utilizing the video and sound structures he has constructed within the gallery space.  The Internet will be used as a platform to broadcast a live video feed of current activity in the gallery.  Believing in the “art as experience” approach, Schell allows the audience to participate in shaping the work avoiding a predefined end-result.

About the artist:
Andrew Jacob Schell was born in 1975, in Clinton, Missouri.  He attended Emporia State University where he received a BFA in 1998 and an MFA in painting in 2005 from Ohio University. Most recently his work has become part of the permanent collection at the Yellowstone Art Museum.  Schell has also participated in group and solo shows across the country, including SOIL gallery in Seattle, WA and Epsten Gallery in Overland Park, KS. Currently, Schell is residing in Lenexa, Kansas, and teaches at Johnson County Community College.  

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