Sapiens / Stories: Bruna Massadas, Chris Fallon and Sahana Ramakrishnan
October 7 - November 3, 2021
Our October presentation on 8-Bridges.com features three artists whose work will be featured in upcoming CULT programming on both sides of the Bay, in San Francisco and Oakland.
Story-telling is a connective tissue between all people and a marker of our evolutionary progress as humans. The artists featured in this presentation draw from familiar and imagined realities to weave modern mythologies that elicit déjà vu. Massadas, Fallon and Ramakrishnan are all active agents in the environments they portray. The settings range from domestic to landscape, imagined through a fantastical lens. The scenes invite commentary on contemporary social themes such as climate change, gender inclusivity and the consumption and commodification of cultural artifacts.
Massadas draws from nostalgic memories of her homeland of Brazil, implying her eternal connection to a now distant land–and reminding us of our responsibility to the natural world. Ramakrishnan connects trans-Atlantic goddess mythologies to personal reflections and self-portraiture. Meanwhile, Fallon creates darkly humorous interior scenes in which gender-ambiguous figures challenge existing traditions of portraiture, and explore how the practice of collecting shapes the fashioning of our personal mythologies.
Each artist posits the cyclical impact of our built and natural environments in contrast to our bodies residing and living within these spaces, a question mythology has explored since the beginning of recorded history. Fallon, Massadas, and Ramakrishnan take this exploration a step further to position their accountability with their environment and role in modern myth-making.
Chris Fallon’s solo exhibition Irresistible Deception opens at CULT on Friday, October 15; work by Ramakrishnan and Massadas will be included in CULT’s 2nd space opening in Oakland November 2021.
This month’s presentation supports the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Francisco. October’s virtual exhibition will be live on 8-bridges.com from October 7 through November 3.
Sahana Ramakrishnan
The Wrong Kind of Mermaid, 2021
Oil, acrylic, color pencil and graphite on canvas
12 3/4 x 10 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches
32.4 x 27.3 x 5.7 cm
Sahana Ramakrishnan
Self Portrait with Sea Snake, 2021
Oil on canvas
40 x 35 x 3 1/2 inches
101.6 x 88.9 x 8.9 cm
Bruna Massadas
Hot Springs, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
14 x 16 inches
35.6 x 40.6 cm
Bruna Massadas
Orb Fruit Tree, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 36 inches
76.2 x 91.4 cm
Bruna Massadas
Jungle Moon, 2021
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 20 inches
40.6 x 50.8 cm
Chris Fallon
And the Rock Was Christ, 2021
Acrylic on wood panel
24 x 24 inches
61 x 61 cm
Chris Fallon
Back Room, 2021
Acrylic on wood panel
48 x 60 inches
121.9 x 152.4 cm
Chris Fallon
Last Looks, 2021
Acrylic on wood panel
48 x 60 inches
121.9 x 152.4 cm