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Nostos
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Alejandro Cardenas Andrew’s Flamingo (after Audubon), 2019

Alejandro Cardenas
Andrew’s Flamingo (after Audubon), 2019
Acrylic on Canvas
40 x 30 inches
 

Ted Gahl, Falling Sky, 2019

Ted Gahl

Falling Sky, 2019

Acrylic, oil pastel, graphite, china marker on canvas

84 x 60 inches

Vincent Valdez, The Dream (1), 2019

Vincent Valdez

The Dream (1), 2019

Oil on paper

20 x 24 inches

Vincent Valdez, Untitled, 2019

Vincent Valdez

Untitled, 2019

Oil on wood

16 x 20 inches

Sharif Farrag, Baby Machine Basket, 2019

Sharif Farrag

Baby Machine Basket, 2019

Glazed porcelain with 18k white gold luster

8 x 10 x 8 inches
 

Jake Mayman Repo Man (Stucco Box Vernacular), 2019

Jake Mayman
Repo Man (Stucco Box Vernacular), 2019
Oil on linen
37.25 x 44.25 inches framed
 

Sasha Gordon, Puffer, 2019

Sasha Gordon

Puffer, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

12 x 12 inches

Sasha Gordon, Girl Made of Jolly Ranchers, 2019

Sasha Gordon

Girl Made of Jolly Ranchers, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

12 x 12 inches

Sasha Gordon, Untitled, 2019

Sasha Gordon

Untitled, 2019

Acrylic on cavas

12 x 12 inches

Sasha Gordon, Gone Fishing, 2019

Sasha Gordon

Gone Fishing, 2019

Acrylic on canvas

67.5 x 41.5 inches

Mario Ayala, Twisted, 2019

Mario Ayala

Twisted, 2019

Acrylic and auto flake on paper (framed)

20 x 16 inches
 

Mario Ayala Beware, 2019

Mario Ayala
Beware, 2019
Acrylic on paper (framed)
21 x 17 inches 
 

Mario Ayala BG, 2019

Mario Ayala
BG, 2019
Acrylic on paper (framed)
21 x 17 inches
 

Ted Gahl, Clarice, 2019

Ted Gahl

Clarice, 2019

Acrylic, graphite, colored pencil on canvas

10 x 8 inches

Ted Gahl, Mia, 2019

Ted Gahl

Mia, 2019

Acrylic, graphite, colored pencil on canvas

10 x 8 inches

Kenny Rivero We Out, 2019

Kenny Rivero
We Out, 2019
Oil acrylic and linoleum tile on wood
51 x 16 inches
 

Kenny Rivero Liro Tie, 2019

Kenny Rivero
Liro Tie, 2019
Oil on canvas
10 x 14 inches
 

Jenna Gribbon Eighth Grade Expectancy, 2019

Jenna Gribbon
Eighth Grade Expectancy, 2019
Oil on canvas
14 x 11 inches
 

Isabel Yellin I Love You I Love Me, 2019

Isabel Yellin
I Love You I Love Me, 2019
Concrete, moss, velvet, stuffing
12H x 41D x 45W inches
 

Brook Hsu Skeleton Fingering a Pond, 2019

Brook Hsu
Skeleton Fingering a Pond, 2019
Oil on Wood with Bolts
4 x 15 inches
 

Brook Hsu the spirit of the beehive, 2019

Brook Hsu
the spirit of the beehive, 2019
Oil on Wood
10 x 9 1/2 in
 

Derek Paul Jack Boyle

Derek Paul Jack Boyle
Pond, 2019
Acrylic and flashe on birch panel
44 x 29 inches
 

Derek Paul Jack Boyle

Derek Paul Jack Boyle
Hung Chili, 2019
Acrylic on cradled birch panel
10 x 8 inches
 

Derek Paul Jack Boyle

Derek Paul Jack Boyle
Saved Candy, 2019
Acrylic on cradled birch panel
10 x 8 inches
 

Emily Ludwig Shaffer

Emily Ludwig Shaffer
A front porch with a darker haint blue, 2019
Oil on canvas
48 x 40 inches
 

Press Release

Nostalgia is complicated. More than just a noun, it’s a feeling. It can be imagined, vicarious or borrowed. It is an impression of the past supercharged by time and distance. Memories have the potential energy to cast an illusion on our present state. Not just onset by affection, loneliness or despair often elicit the strongest responses. Nostalgia is the longing for the good and the bad, when you feel emptier for either.

Nostalgia translates as the suffering caused by an unappeased yearning to return: nostos is the Greek word for “return”, and algos, “suffering”. The ancient Greeks illustrated this theme often in their epic plights of heroes returning home by sea (i.e. Homer's The Odyssey which unfolds around Odysseus’s attempt to return home after battling in the Trojan War).

Consistent with its Greek origin, rooted in "homecoming" and "pain," for centuries nostalgia was considered a potentially debilitating and sometimes fatal medical condition expressing extreme homesickness. The word nostalgia was first coined as a medical term in 1688 by Johannes Hofer, a Swiss medical student who used the term to describe the psychological condition of longing for the past.

The definition of nostalgia has shifted greatly over time. The modern view is that nostalgia is an independent and even positive emotion that many people experience often. Vicarious nostalgia is a feeling of wistful yearning for a moment that occurred prior to, or outside of, the span of one's memory, but is relatable (especially by way of sentimental value) due to repeated exposure. In today’s landscape of oversaturation and overstimulation, nostalgia-evoking references are strategically placed to create a sense of connectedness between the human mind and commodities.

Nostos explores nostalgia through various facets—the whisper of a tie, or some fairy tale pastiche conjured from storybooks and nightmares, an unidentifiable place rooted with the archetypes of domestic banality, or subtle color palettes and architectures that isolate the particular penchants defining an entire decade.