November 22–December 29, 2024
Opening Reception: November 22, 2024, 6:30–8:30 PM

Glendale, NY, 11/24/24: "I’ve known Chris for about thirteen years, and one of the many things that I
have come to admire about him—both as a friend and as an artist—is his generosity. I firmly believe
that Chris has been a significant contributor to the development of contemporary visual culture,
especially with regard to how photography lives and is consumed on the internet. I regularly stumble
across his images, years after they were first created, in memes and DTG e-commerce shops,
typically softened and degraded through the progressive compression of multiple screenshots,
downloads, reuploads. Plenty of artists would be quick to litigate that type of thing, or at least
complain about it, but Chris genuinely sees the beauty in his strange creations floating off and
bouncing around in the universe.

On “YOUR NAME HERE”, Chris notes:

This is a show about the banal, liminal outdoor spaces that dominate our
public lives, and the surprising, small glimpses of ourselves that can still
occur within them. A lot of beautiful things can happen on asphalt.

Of course, Chris is humble. There is, indeed, plenty of beauty in this world that he captures, which
we all inhabit, at least from time to time. But there is also sometimes a subtle tension, or a dreadful
gulp, or a glimpse at all the dirt that’s covering everything. And I think that what I love most about
these images and objects, and many of the other things that Chris creates, is that these oppositional
forces exist within them in a sublime state of harmony. Humor and melancholy. Order and chaos.
Glory and humiliation. Organic and artificial. The bootleg and the genuine article all rolled into one.

I really couldn’t have wished for a better opening than the one we had for Chris this past Friday.
The space was packed, everyone was saying such nice things about the gallery, and I think that
the show looked beautiful. And yet, I’m writing this press release the day after the opening, when
Ptolemy was supposed to have already been fully set up, open, and operational, because I fractured
my clavicle and rib a few days ago, after a ladder that I was standing on tipped over. But, you know,
it happens. And installing Chris’s show in sweatpants and a sling with one arm did kind of feel like
it made sense as it was happening. But I’m a little behind with some of the admin. So, if you are
friends with me, or a former colleague, and this is how you’re first hearing about my gallery—sorry!
I am open Thursday–Sunday from noon to 5:00, and I would love to see you. Pretty soon I will be
hosting events and programs, and next year is shaping up to be 100% hits. Thanks for schlepping
out to Glendale."

Pat Reynolds

Chris Maggio

Scenes from the Last Day on Planet Earth