JONAH KING: HOW THE WEST WAS WON

 
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AT ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM

ON VIEW: February 12 – May 31, 2021

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, May 21

Programming: TBD

From sandcastles and relic-like sculptures to an immersive three-channel video, Jonah King’s exhibition, How the West was Won, reveals unique relationships among geologic time, colonialism, climate change, and golf. King’s exhibition purposefully shares the title of the 1962 ultra-widescreen American western film, which opens with this narration: “This land has a name today and is marked on maps. But the names and the marks and the land all had to be won. Won from nature and from primitive man”. This film and unnerving quote about westward expansion contextualizes the entire exhibition—not just in the artwork’s content but also its mediums. For instance, King’s stunning ultra-wide video projection directly references the format of the original film, but in the place of gallant cowboys trailblazing western trails there are two older white men, in casual sports attire, playing an eternal round of golf in the middle of the Mojave Desert—a foreboding foreshadow of the consequences of climate change. Like two ghosts, the golfers seem to be forever destined to haunt the barren landscape, not with rattling chains, but with swinging golf clubs. 

 
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This exhibition is supported in part by a generous grant from the Rockford Area Arts Council.

 
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Born in Ireland, Brooklyn based artist, filmmaker, and writer Jonah King explores technology, intimacy and collectivity. King's work focuses on areas of scientific research that have the power to destabilize dominant cultural beliefs. King's work has been exhibited at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, The New York Jewish Museum, and Fotografiska Stockholm. Their films have received official selections at the Oberhausen Film Festival and London International Motion Pictures Awards. Recent solo exhibitions include NCAD Gallery (Dublin), Wonsook Kim University Galleries (Illinois), Clima (Milan), Weekend (Seoul), and Meyohas (New York). King is a recipient of the Owen Walsh Award and Andrew Fisher Fellowship.