We have been following John Mosler’s radical career pivot for some time. We profiled John back in 2017. He had spent the previous decade moving from a high-powered yet unfulfilling Wall Street job to doing something he feels will make a contribution to society: his sculpture. The journey was tough — much harder than anticipated.
“It’s just as hard as when I started on Wall Street,” he says, “to make this total commitment to something that is very unpredictable.” There is a certainty in the math of finance that is missing from the art of sculpture.
Mosler has a new show coming up in April, at his gallery studio in Brooklyn. It is his strongest work yet. This time the subject of his eye is the disconnection of humanity from itself. As we think about what has happened in our relationships, the main factor is the influence of digital vs face-to-face relationships. The distorted view of the world and the impossible expectations created via the spotless ideal of our lives seen through social media have contributed to an epidemic of loneliness and unhappiness. How do we as a species deal with the fundamental shift in how we relate?
Below is Mosler’s text on the show:
John Mosler’s The Decline of Intimacy features site-specific installations that seek to manifest the role of technology and other vehicles that often lead to distance in communication, miscommunication and a conscious or unconscious effort and opportunity to present what one might think is a “better self” in physical image and general self; resulting in what Mosler perceives as a general trend toward a Decline of Intimacy in our society.
Mosler’s works explore the beauty of all individuals through the creation of forms that embody beauty, imperfection and authenticity; that when experienced as a whole in feeling and visually allow one to consider true strength and opportunity in embracing self as a home of pure beauty, imperfection and a place of constant transformation and rebirth which when presented in the purest form allow one the most extraordinary vehicle for intimacy in one’s life.
The Decline of Intimacy site-specific installations will include sculpture, video and mixed media. Opening Reception for The Decline of Intimacy: 6pm-9pm on Friday, April 12.
Here to read our profile of John Mosler
Here to read Santa Fe Sensual Immersion
Here 15 Art Books we have been liking
