Current Exhibition
For the Record: Political/Personal/Historical
September 3–October 11, 2019
Artist Talk with Mendi and Keith Obadike – Friday, October 4 @ 4pm
This exhibition brings together six artists—Sara Jimenez, Antonio McAfee, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Mendi and Keith Obadike, and Dano Wal—who are reframing historical images and information to encourage a shift in perceptions of race, immigration, and colonialism. Sara Jimenez explores the material embodiment of deep transcultural memories. As a Filipina-Canadian artist, she is interested in materializing existing global narratives around concepts of origins and home, loss and absence. Antonio McAfee‘s work addresses the complexity of representation. Through appropriating and manipulating portraits, he engages in prescribed views of individuals and reworks images to provide an alternate layered image and concept of the people depicted. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew explores the generational transition from immigrant to native within families, starting with portrait photographs from these immigrant’s albums. These old photographs reflect where they have come from, revealing family histories and shared stories of immigration. The animated portrait helps us empathize with these new Americans beyond the stereotype of the family at Ellis Island or the presumed terrorist. Interdisciplinary artists Mendi and Keith Obadike explore the implications of social and cultural systems in relation to blackness and identity, they have investigated the commodification of race, the visualization of untold stories as disappearing hypertext, and the history of the subwoofer. In response to Pres. Donald Trump’s refusal to continue the planned addition of Harriet Tubman’s image to the face of the twenty dollar bill, Dano Wall created a Harriet Tubman stamp to fit over and obscure Andrew Jackson’s image. Wall made the stamp available to the public with 3-D printing instructions so the stamp could be disseminated easily and inexpensively. The exhibition includes a stamping station and information on creating your own Harriet Tubman stamp.
Image: Antonio McAfee
Upcoming Exhibition
In the Weeds: Art and the Natural World
October 23–December 12, 2019
Seed Collecting workshop with artists Anne Percoco and Ellie Irons – Saturday and Sunday, October 19 & 20 @ 2pm
Opening Reception – Wednesday, October 23, 5–8pm
This fall the Beard and Weil Galleries will showcase six artists who are examining the complicated relationship between humans and the environment. Many of these artists bridge art and science to bring to life processes that may otherwise elude the general public. Through seed collecting, camouflage, performance, video, and artists’ books, artists Kwang Choi, Rachel Frank, Jenny Kendler, Next Epoch Seed Library (a collaboration between Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco), and Tammy Nguyen consider issues of rewilding and human influence on the natural world.
Image: Jenny Kendler
