JUSTIN BERRY
Lorem Ipsum

May 10 – June 15, 2014
Opening Reception May 10, 6-9pm

INTERSTATE is pleased to present Lorem Ipsum Justin Berry’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. Lorem Ipsum is the name of the placeholder text used by designers to mimic the appearance of text without the distraction of content. Written in the dead language, Latin, and intentionally filled with errors, it is one of the most widely printed texts of all time and one of the least understood. ‘Lorem Ipsum’ comes from the phrase ‘dolorem ipsum’ or ‘pain itself’:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

In this exhibition Berry transforms 8.5 x 11 Microsoft Word documents into silver gelatin prints, reveals video games as opportunities to gaze at the stars and creates graphic novels where the only characters are time and place.

Lorem Ipsum continues Berry’s investigation of the language and purpose of photography, the virtual and digital landscape, as well as looking directly at things designed to be unnoticed.

Justin Berry lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His work has been exhibited at; Interstate Projects, New York, The Pigeon Wing, London, Deptford X festival, London, G-Module, Paris, Devening Projects, Chicago, Rowland Contemporary, Chicago, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, and various other venues. From 2007–2008 he was the co-director of the artist-run curatorial space Alogon, in Chicago, IL.