WEEKEND - MOLLY JO SHEA

Weekend is happy to present, Please Release Me, a solo exhibition of works by Molly Jo Shea. For her first gallery show in Los Angeles, Shea's installation will feature sculpture, painting, video, and performance based on the art of trapping. Through her research of masculine endeavors such as Pick-Up Artist culture, hunting, weaponry, and animal trapping, Shea creates an environment that is one part hunting lodge and one part bachelor pad. Shea then inserts herself into these fight or flight scenarios via the presentation of field research, her own hide, and through the interaction with the traps themselves. The social aspects of trapping, who is hunter versus who is prey, and finding oneself in desperate situations without escape, are ideas darkly conveyed within the installation. Armed with deadpan humor, Shea manipulates viewers by allowing them to be both predator and prey.

Molly Jo Shea received her BFA from School of the Art institute of Chicago. She has recently been featured in the group show Legroom curated by Paul Evans and Jonathan Hornedo and performed at Tête-à-Tête, a feminist art show curated by Michelle Carla Handel. She also runs alternative space, Dutch Door, within her studio at RAID Projects, where she hosts performances, screenings, and the feminist reading group, F L A P S.

A performance will be held opening night, October 11th, at 8:45 pm, whereupon the installation will be complete. Caution is advised during the performance as live traps will be in use.