Justin Boyd: I DROVE THE MOTHER ROAD HOME TO THE PROMISED LAND November 22, 2008

JUSTIN BOYD
I DROVE THE MOTHER ROAD HOME TO THE PROMISED LAND

NOVEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 20, 2008

Please join us Saturday, November 22nd from 8-10 p.m. as Art Palace presents I Drove the Mother Road Home to the Promised Land, a solo exhibition of new work by San Antonio-based artist Justin Boyd.

For the past few years, Justin Boyd's practice has been concerned with tracking notions of what he calls an "American Spirit"—the ideas and artifacts that embody our culture and truly define us as American. He finds evidence of this spirit in folk art and music, literature, monuments and native cultural artifacts across our shared cultural landscape.

Continuing in this vein, I Drove the Mother Road Home to the Promised Land is an investigation of the signs, words and dreams of Route 66, a main artery of movement in the United States since the days of the pioneer. Route 66, the road that connects Chicago to the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica Pier, is the idea of Manifest Destiny made tangible and concrete. For Boyd, it is also a metaphor for the varied experiences and attitudes, each distinctly American, of those who have traveled its path at different moments in American history: Pioneers began their journeys West seeking the promise of a better life, and still today, people traverse the country in pursuit of a dream. Some have toiled across this bitter road seeking refuge only to find people and places equally unfriendly. For others still, Route 66 signified the liberation of the automobile and Rock n' Roll. At one point in our history, Route 66 was the road that connected small towns; today it disperses consumer goods across the land, homogenizing culture.
Boyd's ambitious project finds form in a video, digital prints and an installation of signs incorporating text and images. The show also presents a new direction for Boyd, who uses a psychedelic aesthetic unlike anything he's made prior.

Official Website: http://artpalacegallery.com/