"Out of gray a scene a hyper-realist setting of primary pallet comes into view, a bright blue sky and the top ledge of a yellow building. One hears the sound of the wind blowing and a faint clicking. Two women enter from the left side of the frame and cautiously edge in along the wall, not wanting to fall. The figures appear cartoon like superimposed against what looks to be a manipulated background. Their blowing hair and the slightly out of focus image accentuates the romantic, painterly considerations of the scene. The two women stop moving as they enter the center of the frame, looking into the distance and down below. They reach for each other's hand and jump. The slow motion of the action catches the length of their hair as they fall through the frame and disappear. The bright cheery color pallet is held in direct contrast to the weight of the subject matter. There are no clues as to whether the action is a forgery or real. The image of the empty scene is held long enough to ponder the disturbing stillness."

It sounds like a movie script, and in a matter of speaking...it is! Recent Graduates of the School of the Visual Arts, artists Diana Shpungin and Nicole Engelmann collaborate in two new video works to form the Central Gallery exhibition, 2nd Generation Ego. The above scene gives one a glimpse into the thinking of these young videographers. In fact, the text is the artist statement the two wrote for their featured video - ATTEMPT (2004). Glad in their signature charcoal grey uniforms, Shpungin and Engelmann take the lead roles on both sides of the camera in this work that playfully takes on dark subject matter.

According to curator David Gibson: "The video works and installations of Diana Shpungin and Nicole Engelmann ponder the inequities of free will, instinct, and the complicated dynamic of social construction. They mine them as a community of equal agenda in which every gesture is inherently symbolic."

The artists will host an informal gallery talk on Thursday, September 16, at 3:30 p.m. that will be followed by the opening reception.

Central Gallery September 16 - October 14, 2004