Memory Palace
January 19 - February 10
Monaco is delighted to present Memory Palace, the first solo exhibition of photographs by Wil Driscoll (St. Louis) on view in the Main Gallery. Memory Palace is organized by Monaco members Marina and Nick Schleicher.
Please join us for an opening reception Friday, January 19, 2024 from 6 to 9 p.m with viewings available on Saturdays from 12 to 4 p.m. and by appointment.
For all inquiries and appointments please contact Monaco at info@monacomonaco.us / IG: @monaco_usa
Exhibition poster designed by Roy James, using original photo by Wil Driscoll; Exhibition documentation by Emily Mueller, IG: @ferris_muellerz
Click here to shop available works from Memory Palace directly on The Luminary’s Shopify!
EXHIBITION STATEMENT
A descent into the uncanny, Memory Palace editorializes the surreality of daily occurrences. Driscoll’s obsession with the technical skills employed in commercial photography translates to a level of production that rejects imperfection.
His scenes - even found landscapes - are painstakingly considered. A puddle of mud literally gleams against the parched earth, as the water is disturbed by a phantom splash. The documented moments interact seamlessly with the staged works: still lifes. Triggered by a Mento, a two liter Diet Coke explodes, perfectly bisecting it’s frame. The unblemished pale blue sky is resistant to the spray of Ol’ Faithful. A bloom of aspartame and food coloring are suspended in space. Driscoll repeatedly harnesses the power of the super unnatural. Ordinary chemical miracles. Both the found and staged scenes propagate a set of queues selected to activate the subconscious - the vignettes ping familiarity but present new.
Driscoll’s images are seeping with gloss. From the sun-drenched sienna stucco of suburbia opens a key shaped window. Presented askew, the facade is partially obscured by a meticulously maintained topiary. A glass ashtray stuffed with butts, sits on a table set against a kelly green door, like an actor reciting a monologue onstage. In New Mexico, a Southwest runway is obstructed by a half-eaten Twinkie. This fractured, trans-fat All-American monolith is given nothing less than the full Kubrick treatment.
Memory Palace serves photographic candy - juicy slices of the mundane. The irony of the banal has been glamorously repackaged, like a newly constructed home wrapped in lime WeatherSmart synthetic insulation set against fresh snow. Pristine and entirely out of place.
Written by Marina May Schleicher
BIO
Wil Driscoll
b. 1994, St. Louis, Missouri
Wil Driscoll [b. 1994 ] is a St. Louis based photographer, with a BA in photography from Webster University. In both his personal and commercial practice, Driscoll’s sleek, saturated images complicate the perception of found vs. manufactured. The two disciplines work in tandem to produce highly seductive scenes. Oscillating between documentation and curation, Driscoll entices the viewer to enter his alternate reality – one that is only slightly different from our own. With roots in subcultural aesthetics, his photography feels timeless, meticulous, and cinematic.
Since 2017, Driscoll has been working as a freelance photographer, including projects for David Zwirner Books, Rolling Stone, Madhappy’s Pantry, Spiritual Objects, Margin Global, Exhibition A, and Pure Beauty. Group exhibitions include Chainmail, Open House Space, Kansas City, MO (2019),, In Memory of Our Youth, Think Tank, St. Louis, MO (2016), Annual Juried Show, The May Gallery, Webster University, Webster Groves, MO (2015). Memory Palace is the first solo exhibition of Driscoll’s work, presented by Monaco, St. Louis, MO (2024).
IG: @wilddriscoll
For all inquiries and appointments please contact: Monaco at info@monacomonaco.us / IG: @monaco_usa