Taylor Schultek’s Dystopian Vision at Harman Projects

Dec 16

Taylor Schultek, the Brooklyn-based artist known for photo-realistic depictions of dystopian futures rife with frightening technologies, off-the-rails science and dark scary landscapes, opens Dec. 16 at Harman Projects.

Fresh off showing at Art Miami last week, Schultek’s solo show Catalyst draws on his latest body of oils inspired by the dangerous side of vintage science and its intersection with the human mind.

Drawing inspiration from 1960's and 1970's military defense research programs dealing with the exploration of both computer technology and psychic abilities, Schultek researched the early development of the internet, satellites and digital photography as well as parapsychological programs including MK Ultra and Project Stargate. Seeing that both sides of these government funded programs essentially sought out the same results in different manners, the work imagines a world in which technology and the paranormal are interrelated.

Schultek has set these new paintings in a tech-noir world where the online realm is consuming the physical world. This mixing of these two worlds is represented by a circuitboard of snaking conduits and pixelated portals placed in what would otherwise be considered normal cityscapes. In Catalyst, pictured above, a deluge of digital information spews from a portal taking the shape of a giant sprite from the video game Space Invader.

In this dystopian reality, not too different from our own; information technology has pervaded every corner of human existence causing the boarder between worlds to break down and releasing bursts of paranormal activity. Through this combining of disparate imagery, the artist makes statements about the digital world's effects on our environment, psychology and perception.

Catalyst runs through Jan. 6 at Harman Projects, 210 Rivington Street, in the Lower East Side.