Morgan Craig Dialectics and the Decommodified: The Spectre of Capital
Artist Statement
I believe that architectural structures acting as both repositories and as vehicles for
memory profoundly influence culture and identity by providing a tangible framework
through which facets of a society can be expressed. Consequently, I have been inspired to
build a body of work dealing with how identity is influenced by the types of architectural
edifices present in a given landscape. My work is not merely a method of documentation,
but a sociopolitical/socioeconomic commentary on the effects of hubris, avarice, free
trade, outsourcing, deregulation, deterritorialization, neoliberalism, obsolescence, and
international-finance-capital upon communities throughout the world. Within the realm
of Jacques Derrida’s theory of Hauntology, the paintings speak of the slow disintegration
of the future, and the abysmal fragmentation of the past.
memory profoundly influence culture and identity by providing a tangible framework
through which facets of a society can be expressed. Consequently, I have been inspired to
build a body of work dealing with how identity is influenced by the types of architectural
edifices present in a given landscape. My work is not merely a method of documentation,
but a sociopolitical/socioeconomic commentary on the effects of hubris, avarice, free
trade, outsourcing, deregulation, deterritorialization, neoliberalism, obsolescence, and
international-finance-capital upon communities throughout the world. Within the realm
of Jacques Derrida’s theory of Hauntology, the paintings speak of the slow disintegration
of the future, and the abysmal fragmentation of the past.
Artist Bio
Morgan Craig has exhibited throughout North America, Europe, and Australia, including SPACES in Cleveland, the DCCA in Wilmington, and the Australian National University. Craig has received numerous awards including, the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant (2009, 2019), the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (2007, 2011), and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship (2006, 2008). He has also been invited to residencies including, Cite Internationale des Arts, the Macdowell Colony, UCross, Proekt Fabrika in Moscow, and Red Gate in Beijing. Selections from his oeuvre were recently featured in several solo exhibitions, including University of Central Florida, Colorado State University and Binghamton University. In 2019, he participated in residencies at Paul Artspace, St. Louis, MO., RAP in Silver City, NV, and the Munandi Art Space in Lusaka, Zambia. Late Winter/Early Spring of 2021 brought a solo exhibition at Washington & Jefferson College. A residency at the VCCA, in Amherst VA, took place in July. As of 2022, current and upcoming exhibitions include 2 solo shows: University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC and Buckham Gallery in Flint, Michigan.
