Jason Rogenes
MEGALITRANSPONDER
Jason Rogenes has explored the possibilities of expanded polystyrene, better known as Styrofoam, for more than ten years. By working with discarded materials, Rogenes continues the long tradition of 20th century artists who challenged the notion that art-making requires precious or expensive materials. Rogenes is also motivated by environmental concerns, and hopes that viewers will acknowledge that the accumulation in his sculptures reflects only an infinitesimal percentage of the consumer packaging sent to landfills across the globe daily.
One child examining Rogenes’ work described it as a machine that could tell “stories of the future.” Rogenes’ immersive environments appear to be composed of the stuff of science fiction: spacecrafts set within geometric landscapes that evoke unfamiliar planets. To create his futuristic illusion Rogenes has in fact skillfully manipulated the materials of everyday consumer culture—cardboard and polystyrene, made to glow by fluorescent lighting. Rogenes’ skill in seeing possibility where others see waste embodies the aesthetic approach of so many artists working with discarded materials today. His work brings issues of consumer excess into focus, while reminding us that our everyday surroundings offer up endless opportunities for artistic transformation.
ABOUT JASON ROGENES
Rogenes received an MFA degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a BA from the University of California, San Diego. He also studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work has been shown in solo exhibitions at the Pomona College Museum, at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, and at the Chicago International Sculpture Exhibition and group exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine; the Wilhelm Hack Museum / Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Germany; The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York and the Whitney Museum at Altria in New York City.
