Three Rivers Arts Festival (TRAF) Gallery at 937 Liberty Avenue, presents Daydream Nation (through the perilous night), a group show inspired by the inundation of commercial imagery, overload of information and power of consumerism that arose in the grand decade of the 1980s. Daydream Nation opens with a reception Friday, November 5th, 6 -8:30pm, with live performances by Double Dagger and one-of-a-kind merchandise will be available for sale. The show runs through January 1st, 2005.

This new, distinctly American visual style, conceived by a generation of artists reflecting on the infatuations of their childhood, incorporates elements of pop psychedelia, street art, typography, comics, and advertising in a variety of media. Curated by Alex Smith, and Sarah Hromack, Daydream Nation picks up where the 2004 Festival left off. The exhibition builds on work introduced in TRAF’s Graffiti Mural Invitational and Annual Exhibition and presents it within the context of work being created around the country.

“I relate to this work personally because it is a product of my generation and expresses many of the concerns and feelings that are distinctly part of growing up in an overwhelming information age. But I think I’m drawn to it more for its vibrant palette and accessible crudeness which is somehow able to pleasantly yet subversively make light of this rapid-fire corporate media blitz to which the entire planet has been subjected. After working with several of these artists this past summer, I wanted to offer Pittsburgh a more in depth investigation of their work.” Alex Smith, Curator

“We also felt it was important to bring new artists to Pittsburgh and put the work being created here within the context of a larger spectrum.” Sarah Hromack, Curator

Provocative and flamboyant, the body of the exhibit is composed of site-specific installations produced by six artists including Craig Dransfield and Noah Lyon from TRAF’s Graffiti Mural Invitational and Paper Rad (Jacob Ciocci, Jessica Ciocci, and Ben Jones), known locally for their “Troll Haven” as part of TRAF’s 2004 storefront installations. In addition, twenty artists from within and around, including 2004 Annual Exhibition highlights Peter Burr, Elizabeth Deasy, Thad Kellstadt, and Terry Young, have been invited to display their homemade merchandise including silk-screened prints and t-shirts, paintings, drawings, knitted apparel, altered clothing, buttons, toys, comics, and zines.

"In the ‘70s and ‘80s, cartoons and consumer electronics were bigger and trashier than ever and freaked kids out...Now these kids are getting older and are freaking everybody else out by using this same throwaway trash." Jacob Ciocci, Paper Rad

“This exhibition exemplifies why we opened a new, larger, year round gallery. The Gallery provides a new resource for younger curators and artists here in Pittsburgh and Daydream Nation is a deeper look into many of the artists who participated in the Festival.” Elizabeth Reiss, Executive Director

Alex Smith, Assistant Curator at Three Rivers Arts Festival attended Carnegie Mellon University from 1996-98, and received his BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000. Sarah Hromack received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2002 and currently works as the Curatorial Assistant for the 2004 Carnegie International.

A special closing reception complete with artistic and musical performances takes place on Friday, December 31 from 6pm-12am during First Night Pittsburgh. Daily gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday 12-5pm.

Installations by:
Craig Dransfield (Columbus, OH)*
Noah Lyon (NYC)*
Paper Rad (PGH, Boston)*
Courtney Puckett (NYC)
Nolen Strals (Baltimore)
Bruce Willen (Baltimore)

Additional works by:
Elyse Allen (NYC)
Peter Burr (PGH)*
Bjorn Copeland (NYC)
Rob Corradetti (NYC)
Elizabeth Deasy (PGH)*
Dearraindrop (Virginia Beach, VA)
E*Rock (Portland, OR)
Christopher Forgues (Providence)
Tom Hall (PGH)
Thad Kellstadt (PGH)*
Ladyboy (PGH)
Hope Larson (Toronto)
Isaac Lin (San Francisco)
Ara Peterson (Providence)
Retard Riot (NYC)
Seripop (Montreal)
Takatomo Tomita (Philadelphia)
Fereshteh Toosi (PGH)
Mary (Mack) Tremonte (PGH)
Ben Woodward (Philadelphia)
Andrew Jeffrey Wright (Philadelphia)
Terry Young (London, UK)*

*Participated in 2004 TRAF Visual Arts Program