MICHAEL SOUTER: “NARCISSIST” AT THE BRONX MUSEUM
Exhibition Dates: April 14 - April 21, 2005

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 14, 2005, 6-9pm at The Bronx Museum

Press Preview At Artist Studio: Thursday, April 7, 2005, 6-9pm, 153 W.27th St., 10th Fl., Suite 1002, NYC

NEW YORK, – We are pleased to announce the opening of the highly anticipated exhibition “NARCISSIST,” current work by Michael Souter at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Curate by Michelle Tillou, this show will consist of “Daggers”, “Wraps” and “Mirrors,” a series in which Souter reveals the depth of his own experience with a narcissistic relationship. Sam Vaknin, author of “Malignant Self-Love –Narcissism Revisited”, as well as the plays and movies of Neil LaBute were major influences on this series of work titled “Narcissist.”

DAGGERS
this series explores the violent aspects of narcissism, its physical and mental abuse, its power struggles and its overwhelming aggression that lies hidden beneath the surface. The series
of mixed media on hollow core doors uses unconventional pairings of paint, typographical elements, images and text. The paintings evolve from an extensive organic process involving intuition, found objects, and construction tools. Each piece is continuously worn away and deconstructed, and then reworked. Remnants from each layer bleed into one another, creating a wilderness of half-seen images through which the daggers glow with emotive intensity.

WRAPS
this series examines the immersion of a victim in the narcissist’s reality and non-reality. It chronicles the aftermath of encounters with the narcissist and the subsequent deciphering of truth from fiction that occurs during the healing process. The use of fluorescent and metal evokes a sense of vanity, while grandiose, poetic messages simultaneously seduce and taunt. Overlapping swaths of paint play with the boundaries of control and power, manipulation and seduction, exploring the traces they leave on relationships, especially our recollection of them.

MIRRORS
this series uses the narcissist’s weapons of choice: his reflection and words.  Fueled by the triad of narcissism, exhibitionism and voyeurism, the work examines many layers of meaning that compose the actual and perceived reality of the disorder and the relationships it ultimately destroys. Across a collection of mirrors, etched text illustrates a virulent emotional journey. Fervent sentiments from a love letter lure and seduce the participant with caressing charm. Although the tone is effusive, the content is purely ego-centric, revealing a narcissist with an unbridled desire to take center stage. In stark contrast, another set of mirrors offers malicious, degrading statements, which bulldoze the participant with dehumanizing force.

MICHAE SOUTER'S ”NARCISSIST”: (work in progress)
a film that dramatizes a typical narcissist’s thought process. From wild accusations to grandiose musings, the multilayered dialogue details a narcissist trying to extract himself from his own web of lies. The man’s unsettling, matter-of-fact delivery of both sincere flattery and demeaning threats reinforces ideas concerning ego, control,
superiority, and exploitation.  

Souter was born in 1953 in Detroit Michigan.  He holds a B.A. in Painting from Western Michigan University.  His work has been exhibited in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Geneva.  He
currently lives and works in New York City.

The Bronx Museum is open Wednesday from noon-9pm, and Thursday-Sunday: noon-6pm.  For further information, complete press release and biography, photographs, and catalogue, please contact information:
Michelle Tillou 917-912-3922 or Michel Allen 917-202-3206 email: allenmichel@aol.com