Installation by Maximillian Lawrence. Photo by Marcela Pardo

Maximillian Lawrence

Maximillian Lawrence has worked with print making, sculpture, sound installation and light installation. Through his use of unique materials such as; acrylic nails, synthetic hair, beading, wire and electrical circuits, Lawrence explores modern day societies' fascination with consumerism. His work is a reflection on materialism and celebrity culture through a re-creation of American pop-icons. These studies of character provide the viewer with an insight into the complexities and contradictions within our society.

Lawrence studied at Cornell University and Rhode Island School of Design where he gained a B.F.A. in Painting. He is one of the founders of Space 1026, an artist-run collective focusing on silk-screening, print-making, painting, audio/video production and graphic design, which is based in Philadelphia. He has also had solo shows at REload Gallery in Philadelphia, the SFMOMA Annex in San Francisco, and the DUMBO Arts Festival in Brooklyn, among many others both in the United States and Europe. In 2008 he served as symposium speaker and artist-in-residence at MTL Pop Montreal. He lives and works in Philadelphia.

September Open House, Open Studios

Join us as we open the studios of our three resident artists; Zeljko McMullen, Lary 7 and Maximillian Lawrence-- three multidisciplinary artists working in sound, light, installation and performance. The "Ensemble of Seven" perform semi-improvised experiments in our main gallery, featuring Lary 7 (double bass), Mia Theodokatus (harp), Masami Tomihisa (percussion), Michael Evans (percussion), and Patrick Holmes (clarinet). Zeljko McMullen is a Brooklyn based artist who works primarily in Electronic music composition, video, installation and performance art. Through musical recordings, video ritual and live performance, McMullen attempts to explore the polarity between presence and absence, being and non-being, place and non-place, and the solid and the intangible. Maximillian Lawrence has worked with print making, sculpture, sound installation and light installation. Through his use of unique materials such as; acrylic nails, synthetic hair, beading, wire and electrical circuits, Lawrence explores modern day societies' fascination with consumerism.

Maya Hayuk reception & Uumans performance

Maya Hayuk unveils a blacklight-reactive environment that has taken over her residency space, allowing the viewer to float through her neon world of patterns made from paint and pasted paper. The reception features a live performance by Uumans, and affords the viewer the opportunity to sink even deeper into the mind state that allows her to form these abstract spaces. Hayuk earned a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She's gained notoriety for her colorful, dynamic and abstract murals, paintings and screen prints. Characterized by symmetrical compositions and intricate patterns, such works recall traditional Ukrainian crafts, space travel and bizarre spiritual landscapes. She combines advanced painting techniques with the pursuit of psychedelic experience through visual form, so that her work appears to have been made with a carefully studied carelessness; languid, paint drips give way into swaths of color, while rigid geometric shapes open out into free forms. Uumans is a project lead by Chicago native Matthew Mehlan that mixes music, dance, video, and arts and crafts. Mehlan is also involved with experimental band Skeletons and runs the record label Shinkoyo.

Maximillian Lawrence

September Open House, Open Studios

Maya Hayuk reception & Uumans performance

Clocktower