In Memories are Weapons, Christy continues his exploration of surreal, comical and haunting imagery most recently embedded in his work for The Hole’s exhibition in 2020, Second Smile. By manifesting a sense of ambiguity with little crossover between frames, Christy transfers agency to the viewer, creating a space where individual memory can intersect with collective perception.

The exhibition’s title originated from the artist’s own introspection on episodic memory and our ability as humans to manipulate, whether consciously or unconsciously, our perception of past experience. The show divulges the dark side of memory – as Christy calls it, “an apparatus to attack other people or yourself.” Conversely, Memories are Weapons as a body of work also conjures up seemingly innocent qualities of memory, such as our diminishing ability to recall detail as time passes.

Memories are Weapons was born from Christy’s own selective ability to recount past events as time and narrative eroded during the pandemic. Where his earlier works featured scenes of interaction, this show emphasizes the independent echo of human experience, comprising a series of intimate paintings created during a time of social isolation.

Memories are Weapons

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