Like the maid at the churn or the epicure at supper, Butter Digging concerns a metaphorical state of spiritual inquiry and a transformation of matter through consciousness. Butter Diggers utilize strange appropriations of ritualism to comment on contemporary forms of worship both public and private and the way that our cherished ‘popular’ beliefs entail a system of symbols that although finite, might also serve as gateways into the infinite. Edible totems, incantatory hymns and grisly chic raise the stakes for these young New York City based artists who embrace the aestheticism and carnality of cognitive capitalism with alchemical outcomes.

Sinewy, bulbous, and even sludge-like appears the work - the artists in this exhibition seem to follow a primordial decorative impulse. The supernatural aspects of perversity and the sensuality of spirituality reign in these hybrid works of video, performative sculpture, textile and painting. Pleasure is the operative principle, acting as lubrication against capitalism’s golden rule of deferred gratification. In an age when even ‘criticality’ becomes codified into an easily consumable style, these artists embrace the lyricism of luxury, barbarism and superstition, asking: In what ways does pleasure inform the political? How does imagination act on matter? What is the operative value of Art’s narcotic belief in the endless pursuit of an elusive essence? Doubly in revolt against alienated, passive consumption and the artist as celebrity-fetish-maker, these provocative, savvy producers play musical chairs in an abyss were sweat is akin to gold.