Join us for the opening of 2017 ICP-Bard MFA candidate Sam Margevicius’ solo exhibition, 444, at the ICP-Bard MFA Studios in Long Island City, on view from March 10 to 12.

444, is a set of photographs that examine the combined effect of found objects, installation, and repetition. The show takes its title from the artist’s serendipitous encounter with the numerical set 444. Margevicius’ subsequent encounters with the numbers were so amusing that he began a search for meaning in what might otherwise be considered meaningless. This desire to configure a sequence of random events into a coherent story extends to his installation of photographs in the gallery space. The photograph of a letter “O” circled by a red rubber band depends on what appears before it, after it, above it, and below it.

In Chinese, the word four sounds like the word dead, sì and sǐ respectively. This homonymic correspondence has caused aversion to the number’s use in daily life. Margevicius is fascinated by these moments when casual narratives lean toward psychosis, and 444 comes from his exploration of this phenomenon.

“Engaged with the gallery space, I like to imagine myself as a rock climber—setting anchor points as I stretch from one image to the next,” he says. “On the inevitable occasion that my grasp is weak, I only fall the distance I have traveled from the last anchor.”

Bio

Sam Margevicius (b. 1989, California) is a photographic artist with a supplemental concern for drawing, sculpture, and performance. He received his BA from Lewis & Clark College, where he completed a thesis in Studio Art, and is currently based in Brooklyn.

Opening Reception

Thursday, March 9 | 6–8 PM

On View

March 10–12 | 12–6 PM

Directions

The ICP-Bard MFA Studios are located at 24-20 Jackson Avenue in Queens. Take the E or M train to Court Square-23rd Street, 7 or G train to Court Square, or the B62 Bus to Jackson Ave/David St.