Industry is the name of the game for the month of December at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA). Tonight, December 1, will be the opening of Recent Works by Jordan Griska and Tim Portlock from 5 to 7 p.m. Both artists explore different elements of the contemporary industrial landscape in America, which has and continues to shape our shared identity.

Portlock hails from Chicago, where he developed his lifelong interest in the ways location and place help to inform and shape identity. His series of works in the Center for Emerging Visual Artists show are entitled “Ghost City.” The dilapidated, sparse surroundings of post-industrial America inspire the scenes which he creates using mostly special effects and computer gaming tools. The scenes appear reminiscent for a number of reasons, first of all because they illustrate the urban scenes of disrepair and giant, abandoned factories that most Americans are now familiar with. All you have to do is take a brief drive in North Philadelphia to see the telltale signs of where industry used to thrive.

On the other hand, Portlock’s landscapes bring to mind the 3D environments we often see in realistic video games. It is this secondary association that makes the work so intriguing. A series of photos of abandoned factories would be recognizable, but it would also be immediately real. Here, the environments exist only in their present form and not in the outside world, blurring the lines of what is true. Living in a post-industrial setting seems unreal in a lot of ways, and a picture of a former factory represents the ubiquity of this idea across America. In their virtual form, they overstep the boundaries and enter into the realm of myth.

The works by Griska speak to much different aspects of industry, most notably mass-production and fabrication. He presents two-dimensional interpretations of objects which undergo a process of engineering and construction including: airplanes, bridges and gas pumps. Most curious are his images of “honor boxes,” the leave-a-dollar, take-a-newspaper machines of urban street fame. The representations are mirrored, giving the impression that although they seem like fixtures, someone somewhere designed and constructed these things.

Industry, whether something of the past, something we want more of or something imposed upon us, is certainly a powerful facet of American identity. Griska and Portlock take the ideas of American production and construction to places which are familiar, yet strange. Visit the Center for Emerging Visual Artists gallery this evening for a reception and talks with the artists.

Center for Emerging Visual Artists is located at 237 S. 18th St., The Barclay on the 3rd floor; 215-546-7775.