|
The First Art Newspaper on the Net |
|
Established in 1996 |
|
Thursday, November 7, 2024 |
|
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery opens "The Objects We Choose" |
|
|
Installation view, The Objects We Choose, Curated by Pedro Alonzo, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, 2024. Photo by Pierre Le Hors.
|
NEW YORK, NY.- Tanya Bonakdar Gallery is presenting The Objects We Choose, curated by Pedro Alonzo, an exhibition featuring important work by Meschac Gaba, Ximena Garrido-Lecca, Shilpa Gupta, Brian Jungen, Kimsooja, Laura Lima, Patrick Martinez, Moris, Rivane Neuenschwander, Clarissa Tossin, Marie Watt, and Héctor Zamora.
As consumers who navigate existence through a continuous process of selecting one thing over another, we know that objects have meaning that transcends their utilitarian and material value. The items that surround us, some of which we choose to use or wear, say a lot about us. Likewise, artists select certain items from which to make an artwork because of their significance, which in turn can give specific meaning to their work. The exhibition consists of works by a range of artists who use ordinary, everyday articles as the raw material for artistic expression. Shoes, neon signs, hats, clothing, wigs, terracotta blocks and blankets are refashioned and transformed into works of art, privileging their symbolism over intended use, making clear that what objects do, is often surpassed by what they represent.
In the first-floor gallery, the Mexican artist Moris assemblage combines various sorts of food containers including burlap sacks used to carry beans and maize with flattened boxes of sugary juice and corn chips, contrasting Mexicos traditional diet with the prevalence of unhealthy foods. The title, La Última Cena (The Last Supper) refers to a brand of rat poison also featured in the work. Also working with food packaging, Deadline Calendar by Rivane Neuenschwander reflects on the notion of time by documenting a year of expired food, displaying "Best Before" dates from August 1st 2001 to July 31st 2002. These dates dictate our purchasing habits and raise important questions about food waste, reflecting broader consumer patterns where the lifecycle of products is pre-determined by labels rather than necessity or the state of the food.
Héctor Zamoras carefully arranged, cut terracotta bricks simultaneously celebrate the achievement of cooking earth to create a material for construction while relating to modernity via the ubiquitous grid, with multiple geometric permutations that can unfold by altering sections of the brick. Also utilizing construction materials to reference modern architecture, Marie Watts Skywalker/Skyscraper (Rattle) combines reclaimed blankets and a steel I-beam to recall the Iroquois iron workers - or Skywalkers - who built many of the skyscrapers in New York City. In the work of Watt and Kimsooja, materials are used to highlight cultural traditions and nationality. Watts reclaimed blankets reference the Seneca tradition of gifting blankets to mark important life events, while Kimsoojas round Bottari sculpture deploys a traditional Korean custom of wrapping personal belongings as a metaphor for the universal concept of home and migration.
Economic matters and social systems are also explored. The corn cob sprouting from a cube composed of an assortment of crushed copper products in Ximena Garrido-Leccas Rastrojo signals the challenge of extracting natural resources that encroaches upon habitable land. Copper is Perus largest export, the mining of which displaces communities and reshapes traditional lifestyles symbolized by the maize. Rendered in neon, Shilpa Guptas StillTheyKnowNotWhatIDream is a defiant statement at a time of rising nationalism and growing governmental control and surveillance in her native India and across the planet, affirming that our dreams and minds will always be ours. Meanwhile, Marie Watts quilt, Singing Everything: Crescendo (Staccato), was conceived as a collaborative project with the Whitney Museum, inviting the public to respond to the question What do you want to sing a song for in this moment. The project culminated in a sewing circle with over 300 participants, resulting in what the artist describes as a registry of energy and intention, inscribing the responses on over 100 reclaimed wool blankets.
The use of goods as art-making materials transcends national boundaries and cultures. It allows for artists to contrast the natural world with synthetic materials, traditional forms of creation with mass production, or ancient world views with consumer society. For instance upstairs, the Brazilian artist Laura Limas Communal Nest series transforms straw hats into surreal dwellings for birds in an effort to challenge the human tendency to disregard other species who co-inhabit our planet, while Patrick Martinez questions asymmetrical economic structures and hierarchies of power in a series of neon signs common to Main Street storefronts.
Braiding and weaving are millennial traditions used by several artists to decry a system of global trade that supports economic imbalance. Meschac Gaba does so by braiding synthetic hair into wigs the shape of architectural symbols of power including the Washington Monument and the Kennedy Center. Brazilian-born Clarissa Tossins Entanglement series hones in on the mega online retailer Amazon.com: using strips cut from their branded boxes combined with cut glossy photo paper, she creates baskets that feature traditional motifs used by Indigenous people of the Amazon basin on one side and the retailers corporate logo on the other. Garrido-Lecca weaves cut copper tubes in Aleaciones con memorial de forma: warmi (Alloys with shape memory) to create a tapestry based on Andean culture textile motifs that symbolize femininity.
Finally, in Brian Jungens Broken Arrangement series, Nike Air Jordans are dismantled and reassembled into abstract sculptures that signify both a break with figuration and power often abused by corporations and governments who have historically exploited workers and violated treaties with Native Nations.
These works inevitably question the narratives that support the excesses of capitalism and unbridled and extractive economic models. The artists draw from the material excess of consumer society to present a shift towards alternative worldviews that are environmentally conscious and more equitable than the prevailing modes of thinking, perhaps even nudging us to reconsider our behavior.
Essay by Pedro Alonzo
|
|
Today's News
June 22, 2024
A Rubens returns to a German castle, 80 years after it was stolen
How Black librarians helped create generations of Black literature
Kunsthaus Zürich actively implements new provenance strategy
Lokiceratops, a horned dinosaur, may be a new species
"Fulfillment" marks Joan Linder's first solo exhibition with Cristin Tierney Gallery
Sous Les Etoiles Gallery opens an exhibition of works by Italian artist Gianfranco Chiavacci
Judy Garland Museum is raising money to bid on stolen ruby slippers
Matthew Teitelbaum to retire as Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art opens "Franz Gertsch: Blow-Up"
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery opens "The Objects We Choose"
Thomas J. McCormack, who transformed St. Martin's Press, dies at 92
Videos show that leeches can jump in pursuit of blood
Apóstolos Georgíou joins Michel Rein, Paris/Brussels
Kunsthalle Bern to open "Back to the Future / George Steinmann, 2003"
Why does Kendrick Lamar want Drake to return Tupac Shakur's ring?
Asya Geisberg Gallery now representing Jakub Tomáš
BAMPFA presents nationally acclaimed contemporary art exhibition that explores the Great Migration
Fridman Gallery opens a group exhibition curated by Maty Sall
From the Darién Gap to 'The Great Dictator'
Linda Thompson can't sing her new songs. Her solution? 'Proxy Music.'
How architecture became one of Ukraine's essential defenses
James Chance, no wave and punk-funk pioneer, dies at 71
R.O. Kwon's jade rings
'Pre-Existing Condition' review: Recovering from a traumatic relationship
The Benefits of Buying Real Instagram Likes for Your Profile
Shining Stars: Ran Yan & Houlin Bao's Leadership in GenAI & Digital Asset Summit
Indian Athletes Who Excel in Art
Your Guide to Home Renovation
Tips for a Successful Escape Room Experience
Is New York's Right-of-Way Law Too Lenient?
Why Custom Keychains Make Perfect Promotional Gifts
KineMaster Mod Apk Download (Pro Unlocked) For Android 2024
Innovative Uses of Truer Electric Chafers Beyond Buffets
|
|
|
|
|
Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography, Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs, Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, . |
|
|
|
Royalville Communications, Inc produces:
|
|
|
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful
|
|