Chris Velez
Chris Velez, Wishing Well (High Performance), 2023, Mixed Media, Courtesy of the Artist
CHRIS VELEZ
The Demiurgic Nexus
Jan 27 – Mar 14, 2025
Artist Talk: Monday, January 27 @ 6pm
Reception: Monday, January 27 @ 7-9pm
Chris Velez’s upcoming exhibition at the Cerritos College Art Gallery, The Demiurgic Nexus, delves into the intricate web of relationships that define existence, where the realms of nature, technology, and objects intersect with the philosophical. Drawing inspiration from dialogues on 'demiurgic desire,' 'object primacy,' ‘the interplay of nature and technology,' and 'the rhizome vs the mycelium,' the exhibition presents a synthesis of these ideas, proposing new ways to perceive the interconnectedness of our reality. Through its synthesis of ancient philosophy and contemporary thought, The Demiurgic Nexus provides a critical lens for examining the interdependence of objects, nature, and technology. The exhibition encourages viewers to rethink their relationships with the material and immaterial forces that shape their worlds, opening new pathways for understanding and action.
The Demiurge and the Fabrication of Reality
'Demiurgic Desire' posits the world as a construct, a projection driven by a creative
force, simultaneously binding and liberating life within the material realm. This
duality resonates with the ancient notion of the Demiurge, a creator that molds but
also confines. In this exhibition, the Demiurgic concept is recontextualized within
a framework where objects and technology are not merely byproducts of human ingenuity,
but participants in a larger, self-propagating system of creation and control. The
artworks probe how this system shapes perceptions, relationships, and existence itself.
Objects as Primordial Beings
From the lens of 'Object Primacy,' this exhibition investigates the agency of objects.
Challenging anthropocentric views, it reframes tools, artifacts, and technologies
as autonomous entities with their own ontological significance. Objects, rather than
serving life, are presented as forces that utilize humans to evolve and enact their
influence on the world. The sculptures and installations embody this perspective,
exploring the ways in which objects mediate the boundaries of life, perpetuating their
existence and furthering their capacities through human interaction.
Nature and Technology: A Unified Continuum
The dialogue on the 'Interplay of Nature and Technology' questions the binary opposition
of these realms, proposing instead a unified continuum. The works in this section
emphasize the artificial within the natural and the organic within the technological.
A digital biome—part algorithmic, part ecological—is created to demonstrate the permeability
of these domains. Here, technology is not an external imposition on nature, but an
extension of its evolutionary logic, mirroring the processes of adaptation, replication,
and emergence.
Rhizome vs. Mycelium: Networks and Foundations
Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizome provides a model of multiplicity and non-hierarchical
organization, yet the mycelium—a vast fungal network—adds layers of biological and
ecological complexity to this metaphor. This exhibition incorporates the mycelium
as a conceptual and material foundation. Unlike the rhizome’s purely abstract framework,
the mycelium underscores symbiosis, mutualism, and the necessity of rooted interdependence.
Installations feature living fungal networks intertwined with technological systems,
creating an ecosystem where data flows and nutrient exchanges coexist, symbolizing
the potential for hybridized futures.
A Rhizomatic-Microbial Aesthetic
Central to this exhibition is a rhizomatic-microbial aesthetic that embraces multiplicity
and interconnectedness. Through video installations, digital interfaces, and sculptural
assemblages, the exhibition mirrors the non-linear, decentralized processes that define
both mycelial networks and technological infrastructures. These works encourage viewers
to navigate and interpret the spaces as participants within a larger, living system,
fostering an understanding of their own embeddedness within these networks.
Toward an Integrated Perspective
The exhibition seeks to dissolve the boundaries between creator and created, natural
and artificial, individual and collective. By interweaving the philosophies of the
Demiurge, object-oriented ontology, and ecological systems, it offers a cohesive vision
of existence as a collaborative, multidimensional process. Visitors are invited to
explore these intersections and to reflect on their own roles as agents within a vast,
interconnected web of being.
Chris Velez is a shapeshifter: his interdisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, performance art, video-work, photography, and new genres. The breadth of his material and embodied practice reflects Velez’ many encyclopedic and varied interests. His thematic concerns often address the interface between the bodily, the technological, and the natural worlds, but the representational vehicles that most often appear in his work are avatars — stand-ins for a kind of composite awareness or chimeric body. Chris Velez holds a MFA from UCLA in New Genres. His work has been exhibited recently at UCLA's New Wight Gallery, Sade Gallery, Honor Fraser Gallery, Spy Projects, Xela Institute of Art., and Good Mother Gallery.
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