New Mystics: Yenom Wen

From August 3rd - August 26th Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA) presents Yenom Wen featuring work from the Pacific Northwest artist collective, New Mystics. As a body politic, the New Mystics collect degenerates of diverse disciplines: sign painting, screen printing, graffiti, performance, photography, dance, jewelry-making, street art, fabrication, tattooing, music production, painting, DJ’s & MC’s producers and experimental musicians.

Individually and collectively New Mystics seeks to fill a spiritual void created by late capitalism and consumer narcissism thru reconnecting with mystery, myth and mysticism. They seek the beating heart of the city, the origin of poetry, and the landscape of dreams. For this exhibition, they explore what we discard, where we find value, and where we find “coolness.” The show will navigate the space between being complicit in the current homeless struggle and reflecting one’s disconnection between detritus and desire.

Seen in the mirrored view, the exhibition title, Yenom Wen, reads “New Money,” and reflects not only the seemingly-reversed morals of materialistic consumer culture, but also highlights the ease with which we are blind to problems directly in front of us. Having a preoccupation with “money” and “newness,” consumers can easily miss the obvious disparities in our times, which cast products—as well as people outside of this consumer culture—as disposable.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website