Confessional:

Limited-run Prints of Jeffrey Augustine Songco's Commissioned Art Available for Purchase on CA+T's Website February 24

The Center for Art and Thought (CA+T) is excited to announce a limited-run print production of artist Jeffrey Augustine Songco's commissioned work, Confessional. Starting Monday February 24, twenty numbered, digital prints (30 in. x 12.5 in.) will be available for purchase for $30 each on CA+T's website (centerforartandthought.org/publication/confessional).

Commissioned for CA+T’s virtual exhibition Queer Sites and Sounds (centerforartandthought.org/work/project/queer-sites-and-sounds), Songco’s Confessional is the third in a series of photographic prints depicting his recurring "bag head" character. The piece joins the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation (confession) to the highly stylized soul-baring that is a staple of American reality television. Juxtaposed with the too perfect flowers, the ominous white bag-headed figure occupies the position of the spurned wife. Songco describes the work in his own words: “By dressing in all white and placing a bag on my head, I enact a queer performance of the protagonist—a beautiful and empowered heterosexual white woman with personal anxiety that looms around her as she fulfills her own performance of self.” In its imaginative use of text, image, and color, Confessional offers a playful and provocative look at American identity and mores.

Jeffrey Augustine Songco is a multi-media artist. Born and raised in New Jersey to Filipino parents, he is currently based in San Francisco, California. Songco has exhibited in San Francisco at Steven Wolf Fine Arts and the Asian Art Museum, and his writings have appeared in Art21 Blog, Bad At Sports, The Huffington Post, and Hyperallergic. He holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.F.A. from San Francisco Art Institute.

Confessional is CA+T's second limited-run publication, following the success of the print-run of CA+T's first DIALOGUES installation, Migrant Musicians: Filipino Entertainers and the Work of Music Making. Both special projects are part of the organization's efforts to promote media and cultural literacy in both online and offline forms. CA+T considers each publication a fantastic resource for those interested in Filipino diasporic cultures as well as those interested in owning high-quality and artfully produced limited-run publications. All proceeds from the sales of the publications go towards sustaining CA+T's cultural and educational missions.

CA+T ships both domestically and internationally. For more information on how to purchase CA+T's limited-run publications, please visit: centerforartandthought.org/publications.