https://sparksburg.com My Friend Sparksburg Thu, 08 May 2025 15:12:27 +0000 https://sparksburg.com en https://sparksburg.com/home Tue, 27 Oct 2020 17:14:05 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/home <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="86856342" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about <img width="2311" height="2311" width_o="2311" height_o="2311" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/18158ddae262eb172c01193d7c10f8ba2159f458de565d8bbd78b4e84593189b/IMG_2901.jpg" data-mid="130091036" border="0" data-scale="63" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/18158ddae262eb172c01193d7c10f8ba2159f458de565d8bbd78b4e84593189b/IMG_2901.jpg" /> https://sparksburg.com/about Tue, 27 Oct 2020 17:44:35 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/about <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="86856855" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about My Friend Sparksburg is a contemporary art space currently existing on the flagpole holder of a modest suburban ranch home in Columbia, South Carolina. 2021 was the inaugural exhibition season. Guided visits by appointment. Drive by visits during daytime hours. My Friend Sparksburg is imagined and run by Martin Lang.~~~~~ Recent press: Burnaway - My Friend Sparksburg in Columbia, SC Jeannette McCune: My Favorite Things, Impact Magazine Vol. 1 https://sparksburg.com/exhibitions Tue, 27 Oct 2020 17:44:54 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/exhibitions <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="86856869" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about Current: Parental Leave - November 2025 - April 2026 Upcoming: ~ Past: ~ 2025 ~ Phasing Flags, Ella Medicus, August 1 - September 19 out of character, Naomi Moser, April 25 - June 6 ~ 2024 ~ A New Container, Alex McKenzie, November 15 - December 6 ≼( )≽≼( )≽≼( )≽ , Emily Llamazales, August 30 - October 4 Faults or Mishappens, Ingrid Olson, June 28 - August 16Endless Seasons, Tom Wixo, April 19 - June 7 ~ 2023 ~ St. Zoe of Rome (patron saint of great faith), Chloe Simmons, October 13 - December 2 I Require a Tug, Matthew Flores, July 14 - September 15 Wild Bunch, Atlanta Contemporary, Atlanta, GA, April 20 - June 4 Flag Fold, Jacob Rhoads, March 10 - April 14 ~ 2022 ~ Kiss from a Rose, Brittany Boyton, November 25 - December 31 Fall-down Flag, Brendan Loper, October 7 - November 18 The Manicure, Marina Shaltout, August 12 - September 17Orientated, Kevin Kao, June 17 - July 22 Vergissmeinnicht,&nbsp;Samuel Boehm, April 29 - June 3 Water Cellar,&nbsp;Krysta Sa, March 1 - April 10 ~ 2021 ~ Devilman from memory, Peter Cotroneo - November 12 - December 17 Red Eye, Thomas Wharton - September 17 - October 31 Duo Vultus, Tate Foley - August 6 - September 10 Nothing Underneath, Natalie Petrosky - June 18 - July 23 Flag Poles,&nbsp;Conor Murphy - April 30 - June 4 Always already dead, Eric Cagley -&nbsp;Feb 21 - March 31 &nbsp; https://sparksburg.com/Alex-McKenzie Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:25:16 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Alex-McKenzie <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="225394398" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about A New Container, Alex McKenzie - November 15, 2024 - December 6, 2024A consistent stream of AR ‘experiences’ appear on a small circular platform throughout the three weeks of A New Container. Each piece the result of a daily practice of production by the artist. 3D scans of impromptu sculptures, photos mapped to objects as material textures, and personal narratives built from various 3D assets were common approaches to this public act of journaling.Extended reality has become an internal part of McKenzie’s practice in the recent years - a technology that simultaneously feels attractice in its novelty but lacking in its experience. ‘It’s the idea of these types of projects that often feel more satisfying than the act of actually pulling out a phone or headset to ‘look’ at them’. In mid 2024 as McKenzie was developing an exhibition proposal for My Friend Sparskburg, Meta announced a massive budget cut to Reality Labs (its AR/VR arm) - and ultimately the dissolution of Meta Spark Studio, the software used to create this project. Unlike the death of a physical medium, where the original experience can be resurrected through other means, when software (and the systems that support it) dies, you’re left not knowing if it will ever be able to be experienced again. A New Container is a farewell to this platform.&nbsp; -Alex McKenzie&nbsp; https://sparksburg.com/Emily-Llamazales Thu, 08 May 2025 15:12:27 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Emily-Llamazales <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="232961281" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about ≼( )≽≼( )≽≼( )≽ , Emily Llamazales, August 30 - October 4 Deep web Deep tissue Deep web and deep tissue Ecstatic deep-webian intimacy &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;-from the novel Girls Against God by Jenny Hval -Emily Llamazales https://sparksburg.com/Ingrid-Olson Thu, 08 May 2025 15:12:01 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Ingrid-Olson <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="232961276" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about Faults or Mishappens, Ingrid Olson - June 28 - August 16Faults or Mishappens is an expression and acceptance of impulsivity. Cut it, stitch it, encase it, force it, destroy it, shape it, cover it!&nbsp; -Ingrid Olson https://sparksburg.com/Tom-Wixo Thu, 08 May 2025 15:11:33 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Tom-Wixo <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="232961273" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about Endless Seasons, Tom Wixo - April 19 - June 7In the Midwest seasons dictate everything. Your mood, your food, your work, your relationships, and most importantly your relationship to time. I oriented my whole life on the changing of the seasons - taking stock every time the ground froze and thawed again. It’s easy to see which quarter you’re in and how much time is left on the clock. When I moved to LA, the structure disappeared and everything turned into a pick up game. Days are long, the weather is good, and it’s hard to notice that anyone is getting older. It’s a good place to make paintings because they also refuse to accept the pressures of time. It’s a hard place to live for a long time because our lives are always affected by time. Maybe there’s a way that my paintings can add some structure to it all, give us something to hold on to or orient against to keep it all from blurring together. &nbsp; -Tom Wixo https://sparksburg.com/Chloe-Simmons Thu, 08 May 2025 15:11:10 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Chloe-Simmons <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="232961272" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about St. Zoe of Rome (patron saint of great faith), Chloe Simmons - October 13 - December 1St. Zoe of Rom (patron saint of great faith) is haphazardly constructed from a ‘smoldering zombie’ halloween decoration, a blonde costume wig, false eyelashes and an airbrushed t-shirt. Her eyes glow orange as she thrashes from side to side. Triggered by a motion sensor, she shouts a love poem by Gertrude Stein: To Alice B Toklas in a frightened, feminine, AI generated voice. The piece is suspended by a contrived contraption of ropes, a bungee cord, and carabiners in an intentionally failed attempt to make her look as though she is hanging from her hair, just as the depictions of the saint from which she gets her name. The phrase ‘seeing is believing’ doesn’t work here. The work doesn’t hide its falsehood.&nbsp;St. Zoe of Rom (patron saint of great faith) is a work about believing in something. It’s about letting go of fear and having faith in the world, that the world can change, that it can be what you want, that it can get better, that it will go on despite the constantly growing mountain of evidence to the contrary. It’s a work about unconditional love and the tremendous pain that comes with it. &nbsp; -Chloe Simmons https://sparksburg.com/Matthew-Flores Thu, 08 May 2025 15:10:45 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Matthew-Flores <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="232961265" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about I Require a Tug, Mathew Flores - July 14 - September 15Underwear with spots very suspicious Underwear with bulges very shocking Underwear on clothesline a great flag of freedom Someone has escaped his Underwear May be naked somewhere Help! -Matthew Flores https://sparksburg.com/Wild-Bunch Thu, 08 May 2025 15:10:17 +0000 My Friend Sparksburg https://sparksburg.com/Wild-Bunch <img width="4848" height="769" width_o="4848" height_o="769" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" data-mid="232961248" border="0" data-scale="68" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b9a7eac7c2e18616fe566efb24d7d3d1db7df84b74fc91c894812182900d265/MFS.png" /> exhibitions about Wild Bunch at Atlanta Contemporary- April 20 - June 4Wild Bunch includes Brendan Loper, Chloë Simmons, Garrett Gould, Jacob Rhoads, Matthew Flores, Natalie Petrosky and Tate Foley. Throughout the works included, appropriation, humor and craft are structured and woven together, as symbols and materials are rendered to a somewhat uncanny effect. With subtle allusions to place and the universal problems of contemporary life, the exhibition has the familiarity of an old friend with a familiar face, a warm embrace and repeated jokes. This feeling disrupted when the rug is pulled and what was is now different, this cycle repeating; the coyote is met again with a tunnel, so inviting that he must make a run at it.&nbsp; -Martin Lang