Den of Wolves · Jonathan Monaghan

In his third solo exhibition with bitforms gallery, Jonathan Monaghan presents Den of Wolves, a new body of work surrounding the aesthetics of power. The centerpiece video, made at the beginning of 2020, follows wolves navigating deserted commercial spaces—supermarkets, Apple stores, and a reimagined US Capitol—collecting symbols of authority with liturgical distinction. Originally meant to emphasize feelings of isolation caused by a disconnect between humans and technology, these barren urban environments prophetically foreshadowed the unrest and turmoil of 2020 and early 2021, including the January 6 Capitol events. Printed works including Sentry VIII, Sentry IX, and the Soft Power series continue the artist's investigation into the appearances of sovereignty, drawing on authorities from traditional monarchies to Silicon Valley tech companies. Subjects are decorated in regal fashion and modeled in the style of royal portraiture, with luxury fabrics coupled with robotic peculiarities and face masks—equating digital-age technological control to centuries-old absolute authority. The exhibition also featured a series of hypnotic looping digital animations of a hand in a velvet glove caressing pieces of architecture, minted as NFTs and released as weekly drops. The works in Den of Wolves reflect on the shifting landscape of economic power and authority in the digital age, reminding us of an artist's ability to extrapolate the future from their perspective on the present.