Lost at Sea connotes the timeless struggle of man versus nature, overcoming challenges, shipwrecks and ghosts, and the idealized notion of isolation and alienation invoked during the Romantic era. Juxtaposing the old with the new, the term could additionally stand as a metaphor for an individual’s navigation through the societal shifts resulting from today’s political, economic, and social changes. The exhibition features five contemporary artists: Thomas Bangsted, Aaron Morse, Arthur Ou, Tony de los Reyes, and Yinka Shonibare whose diverse works delve into the myths of the sea and its relationship in contemporary culture.

Thomas Bangsted’s photographs render a world governed by ecological instability and technological fallibility. The predominant subject is the landscape and its aquatic counterpart, as it is located at the crossroads between nature and society.

Aaron Morse merges together images from history, mythology, animals, people, and ocean scenery. His paintings are created by mixing acrylic, watercolor, and oils which together form a surface tension evocative of ecological vulnerability and social memory.

Arthur Ou directly disrupts the material of the photographic negative by physically creasing and crumpling the negatives, creating irregular lines that intersect with the random patterns of the ocean waves. This direct intervention on the negative attempts to elicit a tension between the abstract markings (chemical or physical) and the inherent beauty of the sea.

Tony de los Reyes creates work based on Herman Melville’s 1851 classic Moby-Dick. Images of whaling ships, the sea, Americana and abstract/symbolic interpretations form a critique of the novel which he renders in paintings, drawings and sculptures.

Yinka Shonibare explores issues of race and class through a range of media that includes sculpture, painting, photography, and installation art, often incorporating batik fabric as an element to signify western European colonial history and its effects on African culture.