Opening Reception: January 11th 6-9 pm with artist talk 7:00-8:00 pm

Cleo the Project Space is pleased to present “You’re the Man Now, Dog” with work by Matthew Flores. This exhibition utilizes commonplace transmissions to address the limits of concise communication through the presupposed advantage of technology.

Armed with an archive of one liners, automation and pop culture references, Flores explores the possibilities of appropriating meaning while performing the role of artist. The use of a fax machine, television set, and Funny Fone become vehicles in this newest body of work for placing the responsibility of interpretation on the viewer. The possibility for miscommunication is at the crux of his set up with the machinery and includes jokes with multiple implications, the looping of audio, and the delayed, or even unavailable, retrieval of imagery. This allows for multiple translations of symbology amidst emotional reflexes like frustration or laughter that curry their own weight in the decisions of the audience when assigning meaning.

All the while Flores himself serves as director of the happenings and performances with just enough of a hand in the work, or reworking, of the art on display to challenge perception. The use of screens and humor as modes of transmission is an act of attracting an audience by the everyday. It is through that direct access of information the work spurns a larger conversation of absurdity in the retrieval of the delivery. With the theatrics of this collection, the gallery is set as a stage for multiple performances that involve the audience as players in the act with their variety of reactions completing the circuit of storytelling.