Join us for artist talk with Jonathan Monaghan on Sunday, October 19 at 1pm, in connection with his exhibition "A Trace Left by the Future" and his public art installation "Late Capital Pods".
Monaghan’s striking prints and animations explore our collective anxieties about a technology-driven future by merging past and present. Using 3D modeling, he fuses Beaux-Arts ornamentation, surveillance devices, and consumer electronics into surreal hybrid forms that are as playful as they are unsettling.
In "Late Capital Pods", our current public art installation, Monaghan transforms Rochester’s Gilded Age architecture into floating, sci-fi-inspired objects that resemble spacecraft or jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs. These opulent, digitally-rendered structures incorporate local architectural fragments from the Powers Building, the HH Warner Building, and the Granite Building with modern symbols of surveillance. The accompanying LAB Space exhibition, “A Trace Left by the Future” features more of Monaghan’s work as well as limited-edition prints of the public artworks.
At the October 19 talk, we’ll hear directly from Jonathan Monaghan as he discusses how his work explores the clash between the grandeur of the past and the excesses of the digital age. Together, we’ll consider how we navigate a world shaped by hyper-capitalism, data, and desire—and reflect on our growing dependence on technology, the allure of digital luxury, and the striking parallels between 19th-century opulence and today’s consumer culture.
Based in Washington, D.C., Monaghan’s work has been exhibited internationally—from Sundance to the Palais de Tokyo—and featured in publications like The New York Times and Vogue Italia.
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