The Opera Game

KATZMAN ART PROJECTS is thrilled to present Jessica Korderas’ first solo exhibition at the gallery, Recommended for MATURE AUDIENCES. Korderas creates seemingly narrative, 3D cinematic scenes on paper, encased within acrylic cubes. These wildly covetable objects evoke a voyeuristic view into windows of 1970’s adult culture and film, beautifully seductive and alluringly abject.

“I have always been inspired by film, making heavily narrative scenes that immerse the viewer and invite them to figure out what is happening. For this new body of work I was greatly inspired by my discovery of “Giallo” movies; Italian pulp movies from the 1970’s that are slashers, horror, and crime stories. Giallo films often portray the seedy underbelly of society in glamorous and beautiful ways, blurring the lines between the alluring and the grotesque. These films are highly experimental, prioritizing style and atmosphere over traditional cinematic conventions. They emboldened me to push the boundaries of my chosen medium, incorporating tints, pigments, glitter, mirrors, and other materials to achieve unusual and captivating effects.

We often see beauty and ugliness existing side by side, and this balance between opposites shapes our experiences. The blend of the dark and the beautiful highlights the complexity of our reality, and the way we perceive these complexities is largely dependent on our personal perspective and interpretation. But our perception is also shaped by what is presented to us through popular media, how it is presented, and what is censored from us. Ironically media such as film is incredibly contrived and unrealistic but influences most people’s perceptions on reality. Media reflects a distorted reality of our world, and we in turn view that distortion as reality and project that onto the real world.

People are attracted to scandalous things. People want to see sex, violence, drugs, blood. Giallo films in the 70’s fed on this. It was no holds barred. I approached the work in this show the same way. I like there to be an element of voyeurism in my pieces. You’re invited to peer into peoples’ windows and lives, see them as they are, at their most raw. The way they are when they think no one is watching. You get a glimpse of danger, hedonism – but just a taste.”

— Jessica Korderas