Jonathan Monaghan

Minted by the artist

Bitforms Gallery

Jonathan Monaghan is a contemporary artist whose practice explores the transformative effects of technology and consumer culture. His multidisciplinary works combine ancient mythologies, commercial architecture, and corporate logos to create a surreal and mythical world that blurs the boundaries between the natural and the artificial. uncovering subconscious anxieties associated with technology and consumerism.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. and Market Gallery in Glasgow. Group exhibitions include The Palais de Tokyo in Paris, New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival, Lehman College Art Gallery in New York, Ars Electronica, and Postmasters Gallery in New York. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Vogue Italia. His work sits in numerous public and private collections including The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. and the Microsoft Art Collection.

Monaghan received his BFA from the New York Institute of Technology in 2008 and his MFA from the University of Maryland in 2011. He is represented by bitforms gallery in New York and 22,48m2 in Paris.

Temple of Optimization is a vertical video piece, depicting a surreal floating ship. Composed of modern exercise equipment, baroque architecture and digital technology, the work explores the connections between human and machine, and grapples with the uneasy relationship with technology and nature. ALL WORKS COURTESY OF BITFORMS GALLERY, NEW YORK.