No opening reception.

This series of altered photographs, sculptures, and installation by Evan Hawkins began with a fascination centered around the similarities and disparities between the bottom of the ocean and the surface of the moon. Extreme environment, pressure, light, sound, inaccessibility, solitude, and even the tidal forces of the moon on the oceans led to a visual, psychological and existential exploration of the altered reality created by this juxtaposition.

Human beings are hardwired with a fascination to explore the unknown by pushing technology to its limits, and then pushing ever further. We pursue material and metaphysical answers to the questions we cannot resolve, in order to fulfill our desire to know our place in the world and, in a greater context, the universe. Some turn to science for answers, others seek them in the dogma of institutionalized religion. Evan Hawkins' recent work is intended to create a disjunctive alternate reality which at a glance offers the suspension of disbelief but, when scrutinized, becomes more apparent that reality is not static.

Hawkins' intention is not to ask the viewer to believe in the reality presented by the work, but to provoke them toward a manner of thinking that will question what reality is. This body of work is presented playfully as a way of instilling a sense of awe or wonder and to obfuscate the world. Ultra-realistic vistas are presented through obviously stage-crafted portals and viewing stations. Both are real and, being an overt art installation, as fake as possible.

Were the moon landings faked? Does it even matter if they were if we cannot know definitively? How much of our everyday lives is dictated by what we see and the judgments we make on the truth of this often-misrepresented world? This paradox is similar to the divergent ideas of creation—was it the result of a divine creator, or an explosion of matter radiating outwards at the speed of light from an infinitesimal singularity? As our understanding of reality evolves, we formulate truths, and in time, we come to believe we have the answers to these questions and curiosities.

We often choose to ignore a logical conclusion in favor of hope and wonder; truth and reality may be malleable and subjective, a shared mirage we run toward in the hopes of fulfilling some inner dream.

Evan Hawkins' practice is fixated on the appropriation of images and the visual separation of context in these images in order to create a fragmented narrative. His approach to visual exploration through various media mirrors his ever shifting conceptual interests. Recently his works have investigated the everyday disaster of car accidents and natural disasters, the fluidity of memory and near death experience, and conspiracy theory and the perception of reality in relation to objective truth. Born in Richmond, VA, he studied printmaking at SUNY Buffalo (BFA) and pursued interdisciplinary studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MFA). Most recently his work has been shown at Abel Contemporary Gallery in Belleville, WI, and Big Orbit Gallery in Buffalo, NY. His work has been acquired for various private and public collections including the Burchfield Penney Art Museum, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.


SAFETY PROTOCOLS FOR GALLERY VISITORS: For the first time since February 28, 2020, Hallwalls Gallery reopened for in-person visitors commencing Tuesday, July 7, 2020, in accordance with NYS and Erie County guidelines for Phase 4 reopening of low-density art venues. We had missed you all, and were happy to see you again in person, eye-to-eye, even chatting from six feet away and behind our masks.

As of 2/1/21 we remain open. Gallery hours, as always, are Tuesday–Friday 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Saturday 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m., and admission to the gallery is, as always, free of charge.

We will have 2 or 3 employees working per shift (< 50%), with one (wearing a mask) always stationed at a table in the lobby just outside the gallery, greeting visitors and monitoring safety protocols (including signing in for purposes of possible contact tracing). ALL VISITORS MUST WEAR A MASK UPON ENTERING THE LOBBY AND THROUGHOUT THEIR VISIT, OR WILL BE POLITELY REFUSED ENTRY. We have purchased and installed a locally handcrafted no-touch hand sanitizer dispenser in the lobby. Reservations are not necessary. Generally speaking, it is rare that more visitors arrive at any one time during gallery hours than can be safely accommodated, but if they do, the Hallwalls employee at the door will limit entry to ensure safe physical distancing.