NEW YORK: Memory Keeper is a group exhibition of six emerging artists working across mediums. The work  presented considers the relationship of memory (the collection of images) to the act of seeing and art-making. What can be said of the memories we choose to keep, and the internet’s influence on their longevity?  The brain’s mysterious method for keeping our memories; and the tragic shortcomings of memory prompt reflection on which memories outlast each other, and for what reasons. Inevitably, the condition of living online complicates this reality. How do the images and moments we collect in our brains relate to the images and  videos we present online? How does voluntary curation of social media presence relate to the involuntary  curation of memory?  

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Roughly, the human brain consists of about one billion neurons. Within this elaborate circuitry, each neuron  forms about 1,000 connections to other neurons; resulting in more than a trillion connections. If each neuron stored a single memory, running out of space in our finite brains would be a problem. Yet, the brain’s exact storage capacity for memory-keeping is difficult to calculate. There is currently no way scientists can measure  the size of memory, let alone how much of the brain frees up space through the act of forgetting.  

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In Cleanse by Dylan Rose Rheingold, the viewer is subsumed by a dreamy haze of color. The outlines of mul tiple figures faintly undulate beneath the surface; resembling the incomplete impressions of reality felt both in  dreams and partially-recovered memories. Xing Li’s depictions of desolate interiors recalls this dream-state in  their sensory quality. Through masterful handling of oil paint, the artist created the series of eerie scenes in the  hospital at Ellis Island; a location replete with memories of joy and horror. Similarly, Ji Min Hwang’s paintings of mundane objects are rendered from memory; a quality made plain through the specific yet vague details  the artist presents.  

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Arthur.jpg by Alex Leav encapsulates the peculiar electricity of online existence. The artist painstakingly layers  personally cultivated images of memes and text, which she juxtaposes with lively application of air-brushed  color. Leav’s work bridges the gap between the physical graffiti one may encounter through spray-painted  exteriors and the virtual graffiti of the online atmosphere; an evergreen blizzard of memes and content. Self Help by Alexander Si interrogates the theme of wellness; an amorphous concept ranging from dietary lifestyle  to absurd quests for perfection. Si’s skillful distillation of wellness interrogates the mechanisms of celebrity  which perpetuate it’s reign. Si complicates this notion further by curating a selection of texts, contained in a  “free library,” a discreet wooden sculpture referencing the guerilla libraries found throughout the city. Alyssa  Freitas’ multifaceted work Living on Lite upends the premise of social media. Through active references to  wellness-conglomerates such as Goop by Gwenyth Paltrow, Freitas created a functional application which  stores memories through the act of uploading media. Through a comical reversal of the public element of  social media, Freitas questions the social implications of the online experience. Does a confessional post  matter if nobody reads it?