Tanscolorations

Using computer-controlled production methods to investigate the technologies that dictate how color is recorded, interpreted, and output within the digital domain, Jon Malis creates a physical definition of digital photography in abstract sculptures. The works presented in his solo exhibition, Transcolorations, translate the physicality of an ephemeral dataset into “tangible color” using 3D printing and other digital technologies to reproduce the shapes of how color is encoded physically. Concerned with how colors are stored and displayed, Malis equally considers the source of the raw data as well as how presentation and viewing perspectives can alter our relationship with data. He holds an MFA in Film & Electronic Media from American University and a BA in Studio Art from George Washington University. A prior semifinalist for both the Sondheim and Trawick Prizes, he is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Loyola University in Baltimore, MD, and maintains his studio practice in both Baltimore and Washington, DC.

BlackRock Center for the Arts is pleased to present the solo exhibition Jon Malis: Transcolorations in the Kay Gallery from Saturday, July 21 through Saturday, August 25, 2018. A Meet the Artists Reception will be held on Saturday, July 21, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., where the artist will deliver brief remarks at 3:30 p.m. and will be present throughout the event to answer questions. Malis will return to BlackRock to present an Artist Talk on Saturday, August 25 at 1:00 p.m. which will include tours of the exhibit. Both events are free and open to the public. Admission to the galleries at BlackRock is always free

Gallery Hours:

Monday – Saturday: 10am to 5pm

*Also open select evening and Sunday hours when performances are offered. Please call to confirm.

BlackRock Center for the Arts is located at 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown, MD.

About Jon Malis

Jon Malis is an interdisciplinary artist whose profession is based on the symbolic display of visual content. Originally trained as an analog-turned-digital photojournalist, the core of his work is based on how different methods of presentation and production can change the viewer’s perception, interpretation, and experience of imagery. His recent works seek to provide a physical definition of digital photography, creating sculptural forms based on how color is represented in digital imagery.

Malis has received numerous awards and has been exhibited extensively in the Washington, DC, region, nationally, and internationally; reviewed in the Washington Post and Naples Daily News; and featured on Maryland Public TV and PBS. Recently, he has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Otis College of Art & Design (Los Angeles, CA), and the Slade School of Art in London.

Malis received a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Electronic Media from American University in 2011 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from George Washington University in 2007. Currently, he holds an appointment as an Assistant Professor of Photography at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland, and maintains his studio practice in both Baltimore and Washington, DC.

“By way of background, I used to work as a news and sports photojournalist, where all I could control was the content of the image - I really had no control over how it was cropped/toned/sized/etc to fit inside the paper, once I shipped the image off my camera, I lost all that control. A lot of the work I'm making now is a bit of a response to that - thinking hard about "if I remove the content, what remains [of the image]." -Jon Malis

Exploring the technologies that determine how color is displayed, comprehended, and constructed within the digital domain, Jon Malis generates a physical definition of digital photography in abstract sculptures using computer-controlled production systems. The works revealed in his solo exhibition, Transcolorations, translate the physicality of an ephemeral dataset into “tangible color” using 3D printing and other digital technologies to physically reproduce the shapes of how color is encoded.

“In terms of this specific body of work, I'm starting with these profiles as my source creative material and am abstracting them into various layers of data visualization and abstract representationalism. One of the larger interests in my practice is thinking about the intersections between scientific visualization and visual art, their intersections, and when science "becomes" art (my MFA thesis dealt with a "forgotten" archive of brain tissue that, due to storage conditions, is no longer useful to science or medicine)." -Jon Malis

Concerned with how colors are collected and displayed, Malis equally considers the source of the raw data as well as how presentation and viewing perspectives can alter our relationship with data. He holds an MFA in Film & Electronic Media from American University and a BA in Studio Art from George Washington University. A prior semifinalist for both the Sondheim and Trawick Prizes, he is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Loyola University in Baltimore, MD, and maintains his studio practice in both Baltimore and Washington, DC.