Tyler Macko

The Pit is pleased to present Coffyns, a solo exhibition by Dayton OH based artist Tyler Macko. The exhibition will consist of a new body of wall relief resin and assemblage works and one new sculpture. On the far wall of the gallery Macko will install a mirrored surface creating a false sense of depth in the intimate Pit II gallery, and endlessly reflecting the installed works.

Macko’s practice pulls from the histories of collage and assemblage. They are constructed from found objects, many with personal references to growing up in Dayton OH, and his familial history. Rugs depicting nature, in particular forest animals often hunted for game, are commonly painted on or collaged with. Iconography such as Raggedy Anne dolls, berry pies, maps and illustrations of Ohio typography and mountain ranges, forest wildlife, and needlepoint textiles of flowers and cabins find themselves as focal points in Macko’s works. These materials and iconography explore a specific Midwestern culture and history; one that the artist grew up surrounded by. In this body of work, Macko constructed shallow resin frames, and foundations which house his compositions, juxtaposing multiple objects or imagery such as a found graphic of a black bear next to a realistically painted plaster blackberry pie.

The exhibition’s title Coffyns, can be interpreted in multiple ways. On the surface, it can be seen as a nod to Macko’s works housing figurative cultural bodies inside of a rectangular box, one that is meant to preserve the items as much as display them. A reoccurring compositional move by the artist in this body of work is to carve into the ground of the object, and then insert cast objects into this recessed space creating an inlaid assemblage. In turn generating another reference to the coffin as a space to both entomb bodies or histories, as well as a place for contemplation on what remains inside this resting place.