CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

Chinatown Soup is pleased to present Close Encounters, an exhibition of sculptures by Megan Bogonovich and drawings by Denver Ferguson that is curated by folks from Kishka Gallery and Library, a new community-focused non-profit art space in White River Junction, VT. This show is on view January 10 - 15, 2023. Please join us for an after hours reception on Thursday, 1/12 from 6 - 8 pm.

Megan Bogonovich makes objects that appear not of this world. It’s not simply that her botanical wonders look as if they were grown on some alien terra-farm at the base of Olympus Mons, the objects themselves seem to defy the earthly contrivances of physics and gravity. Sweeping, lascivious, phallic stems curve into space, balanced precariously on voluptuous bodies, unburdened by the conventions of naturalism. Bogonovich melds aspects of the human body blurring sexuality into a technical facet with mechanisms of humanness and flora cobbled to one another in surprising and satisfying form.

Denver Ferguson’s series of drawings seem likewise extracted from another world. His pairs of characters could be trading card portraits of extras from a speculative twentieth century science fiction movie. Contained by their diminutive size and two-character format, Ferguson uses his limitations to exploit an imagination without limits.

These two bodies of work explore fascinations of two artists who ply their craft with obsession. New worlds emerge as marks, forms, and layers, leading a viewer into the wonder of the unfamiliar. There’s an electric visuality that accompanies each selection, creating depth and delight in every detail.

Megan Bogonovich received her Master of Fine Arts degree from The University of Montana with a concentration in Ceramics in 2003. She studied painting and drawing at The Maryland Institute College of Art, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1999.

Returning to Montana, Megan participated in residencies at The Archie Bray Foundation and The Red Lodge Clay Center. She has twice been a technical assistant at the Haystack Mt. School of Craft and has enjoyed over a decade of employment in academia. In 2008, Megan received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

Bogonovich lives with her husband and daughter in Vermont. Her studio in the woods is home to an active practice creating sculptural works and producing her figurine line, "Melabo".

Denver Ferguson came to the Upper Connecticut River Valley from the US Virgin Islands following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017. Living in a new place and reeling from environmental exile, he began drawing as a way to alleviate culture shock and anxiety. The pieces Ferguson created have become the basis of an incredible series.

These works have been mostly executed during quiet moments at his job as a cashier at the Upper Valley Co-op in White River Junction (VT). Most of the drawings in this exhibition are made on scrap paper provided by the grocery for a cashier to use throughout the work day. Taking notice of Ferguson’s atypical art practice, customers began to drop off gifts of drawing materials which have helped to expand his creative vision.

Ferguson’s artistic background is entirely self-directed, mining an active imagination and pulling influence from sources as wide ranging as Caribbean / Yoruba culture, 20th century science fiction, and contemporary comic book characters.