Named after the late 18th- century essay by J. and A.L. Aikins that inspired it, Slater Bradley and Banks Violett’s exhibition explores our uneasy attraction to images that provoke both dread and sorrow. 

In a suite of six color photographs, Bradley documents the slow decay of whales beached along the Pacific coast, and the people who gather helplessly to watch them. Under the diffuse, golden light of sunset, these giant creatures assume a sublime ugliness. 

Human skulls appear regularly in Violette’s exquisitely rendered graphite drawings. They are frequently set alongside American flags, horses, and empty bottle of Jack Daniels, juxtapositions that suggest both the decadence and demise of a mythic America.