Mark Rospenda: Temple of Janus
Janus’s Key, 2025, paper pulp (recycled failed drawings and other papers)
Temple Door (detail), 2025, paper pulp (recycled failed drawings and other papers)
August 1 – August 22, 2026 | Opening Reception August 1, 1pm–9pm
COOP is pleased to present Temple of Janus by Mark Rospenda. Janus is the Roman god of beginnings, endings, transitions, passages, time and doorways. He has two faces—one which looks to the past, the other to the future. Rospenda’s Temple of Janus echoes the historic architectural forms of ancient temples, including colonnades, pediments and areas for offerings. Within the temple, Rospenda’s version of Janus stands on a riser with an offering box placed at its feet. Paper coins embossed with Janus’ likeness are available outside the temple. Visitors are invited to take one. Each coin is an opportunity to imagine a world we wish to see. Or recall something that we want to leave in the past. Following a moment of reflection, these coins can then be dropped into the offering box within the temple. A door along the back wall of the temple mirrors the door visitors enter through. It will be shut, but has a keyhole—inviting the imaginings of visitors as to the future that lies on the other side. Imagining a better world provides a destination toward which we can orient ourselves, much as a driver instinctively steers toward the point where their gaze is fixed. This can serve not merely as a form of speculation, but as a compass for collective action. This is the opportunity we have in the Temple of Janus—a chance to imagine forward toward the world we want to see.
Rospenda utilizes paper pulp in his 3D work because it symbolically represents change and transformation. The pulp is created by hand from failed drawings and other papers, containing no added dyes or colorants—different colors are the result of sorting papers before beginning the pulping process. The sculptures are the result of this reprocessing of information, physical cairns amid a stream of thought. Essential to this exhibition are paper pulp 2x4s that Rospenda has been reusing since 2020—repairing and reforming them into 8-foot lengths for each subsequent installation. This will be Rospenda’s first exhibition in Nashville, and the artist will be present at the opening reception and present an artist talk on Sunday, August 2 from 12pm–1pm.
More about the Artist
Mark Rospenda’s meticulous nature always presents itself through his work. Using paper as a means of exploring the delicate, mutable nature of our thinking processes, he physically cuts into, shreds, and converts his drawings into pulp. Parts and elements are exchanged between works with some evolving over a number of years. The images that result are moments within a stream of thinking and forgetting— records of memories lost, found and transforming. His work has been exhibited at the Spartanburg Art Museum, Spartanburg, SC; DEMO Project, Springfield, IL; Herron Galleries, Indianapolis, IN; and other locations nationally. From 2011–2022 he was Curator at the South Bend Museum of Art, where he organized and oversaw more than 125 exhibitions. Since 2021, his artwork has been included in the White Columns Curated Artist Registry. Rospenda lives and works in South Bend, IN, where he is Gallery Director at Indiana University - South Bend. Learn more at markrospenda.com.